Keeping in step with Palo Alto, California-based ParcPlace Systems Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co has announced its implementation of ParcPlace’s VisualWorks 2.0 development environment as Distributed SmallTalk 4.0. Hewlett-Packard, which only recently upgraded to a Distributed SmallTalk 3.0 release based upon VisualWorks 1.0 (CI No 2,475), says the latest release provides the ability to develop applications for HP-UX, Solaris, SunOS and AIX, as well as for the first time upon Windows NT, Windows 3.1 and OS/2 2.1. Distributed SmallTalk 4.0 generates code that can be deployed using Hewlett-Packard’s object request broker and includes the company’s Common Object Request Broker Architecture implementation. The ParcPlace VisualWorks 2.0 includes an ObjectLens for creating separate client and server components of an application which Hewlett-Packard says enables developers to create an application on one of the supported systems and recompile it for another. Distributed SmallTalk is VisualWorks plus a set of Object Request Broker class libraries, messaging, libraries for other Object Management Group services and eight service areas not yet covered by Object Group standards – example code and applications Hewlett-Packard has layered on top. Envy/Developer Users need a transport package for Windows 3.1, Novell LAN Workplace for MS-DOS has been tested, and OS/2. Distributed SmallTalk 4.0 is out on December 1. A single-user personal computer version costs from $3,000 to $6,500 with VisualWorks SmallTalk bundled. A Unix version is from $5,000 – $10,500 bundled with SmallTalk. Every five Distributed SmallTalk licences buys one free copy of VisualWorks. By the end of the year, SmallTalk 4.0 will also support Object Technology International group’s Envy/Developer management tool providing versioning and configuration services for SmallTalk code and Interface Definition Language, with repository and development sharing via the Envy/Developer repository.
