Software Development
Cincom Smalltalk™ has also been used to create and develop highly sophisticated software applications. Below are a few examples:
Bird Technology
Since being founded in the year 2003, the French software development company Bird Technology has focused on developing applications based on domain-specific languages (DSL) for the finance sector as well as Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 applications for niche markets (such as transactions and simulations). The company’s high-end services range from consulting, project planning and project management to application maintenance services. To speed up and facilitate the development of new DSLs and DSL-based applications, Bird is using VisualWorks.
For their projects, they focus on developing DSLs that integrate Bird’s middleware platform. But Bird’s software developers go even one step beyond creating new DSLs; their objective is to develop so-called business natural languages (BNL). The major aspect of creating a BNL is to reach a very high abstraction level based on a semantically rich, general-purpose programming language such as Lisp or Smalltalk. This will provide maximum flexibility and the opportunity to re-use certain primary elements such as numbers, dates, Booleans, etc. Once the expert defined the required vocabulary, the application can be developed very quickly. It is easy to maintain and can be rapidly improved and adapted to future evolutions. Furthermore, its verifiable technological and logical reliability is another big plus.
When asked for the reasons for selecting VisualWorks, Christophe Allegrini, the Director of Application Development at Bird Technology explains:
“First of all, we decided to use VisualWorks for its maturity, availability and homogeneity, which is not reached by other object-oriented languages. In addition, we needed a dynamic language providing a just-in-time optimiser while guaranteeing maximum stability with effective support.VisualWorks completely meets these requirements. Besides, we want to provide our customers with anintegrated development environment (IDE) that allows them to use their DSL in the easiest way possible, on whatever platform they choose. Smalltalk is very well suited for this particular deployment.”
Cincom Smalltalk has proven to be clearly more cost-effective and versatile. Furthermore, the VisualWorks IDE is easier to extend. The developers who used to work with Eclipse or NetBeans feel very familiar with it within the shortest period of time.
“Development times could be reduced by 30% to 40% compared to Java. In one specific example, the development of a customised user interface that took six and a half days before, now even only takes 15 minutes. Smalltalk provides the perfect platform for us to meet the high requirements of our customers on DSL- and BNL-based applications” - Christophe Allegrini
- To read the full story, click here (English).
- To read the full story, click here (French).
- To read the full story, click here (German).
CS Component Set
CS Component Studio GmbH emerged from a cooperation between the Dutch software house, Amsterdam-based Soops b.v., and the management team previously associated with the former CAI Systemhaus GmbH. This cooperation resulted in the development of one of the largest object-oriented software libraries in Europe. Not only can both companies now serve their customers even more efficiently, development times and cost can also be optimized.
The Framework CS Component Set enables the quick and cost-effective development of complex ERP applications. This helped CS Component Studio achieve a significant competitive edge and, with the help of Smalltalk, open up a whole new market segment. The Smalltalk foundation of the ERP framework provides high flexibility and speed for CS Component Studio, which allows support of customer requirements that don’t arise until the project is underway. Object-orientation guarantees that any kind of modification can be quickly and smoothly implemented. Thus, the ERP system can be developed and continuously customized with the customer in an iterative way. Taking part in this development process makes it easier for users to sign off on the system and to accept the completed program as “their own system”—a “win-win-win” situation for the ERP specialist, the customer, and the user!
“Cincom Smalltalk lets us provide economical and technologically effective solutions for complex ERP problems.” – Doris Müller, Development Director Smalltalk for Object-Oriented ComponentSystems
According to CS Component Studio, the main advantage of Smalltalk versus hybrid programming languages such as Java or C++ is that Smalltalk is an object-oriented language. This means that its software development is also strictly object-oriented. Software components and modules are the elements of the ERP component system that are used to map the relevant business processes of typical modern manufacturing enterprises. At CS Component Studio, a major challenge in ERP development using Cincom Smalltalk was the new way of ”thinking” – i.e., strict object-orientation. The Smalltalk programmers now completely identify with “their”technology. Above all, they design their development tools themselves!
To learn more, click here.
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