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ESUG17: AppeX and JavaScript Support Enhancements in Cincom Smalltalk™

Posted on in Categories ESUG, Events
  • Title: AppeX and JavaScript Support Enhancements in Cincom Smalltalk™
  • When: Tuesday, September 5, 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
  • Name: Vladimir Degen
  • Type: Talk

Abstract:

In this presentation, Vladimir Degen, Senior Software Engineer with Cincom Systems, Inc., will discuss the latest AppeX and JavaScript support enhancements in Cincom Smalltalk

JavaScript is the de facto language of the web, while Smalltalk is a premier language for developing powerful and innovative programs. AppeX, featured at ESUG in past years, continues to evolve as a tool for bringing these two languages together in a simple and natural way to support the development of complex web applications. AppeX is a very lightweight and flexible modern web application framework in Cincom Smalltalk.  With AppeX, users get the most current web technologies like HTML5, JavaScript, Ajax, JSON, XHR, etc. AppeX is open and uses any preferred JavaScript libraries, as well as automatic session management. It allows users to manage Smalltalk and JavaScript code within Cincom Smalltalk and also provides browser support for JavaScript, which allows users to search senders/implementers and parse JavaScript literals.

In this talk, Vladimir will explain and demonstrate some recent, interesting features of AppeX, including editing arbitrary JavaScript code from within AppeX and the ability of AppeX to “task” web browsers to do such things as utilizing JavaScript libraries and functionally testing and scripting websites from within Smalltalk

Bio:

Vladimir Degen has been with Cincom Systems, Inc. for three years. He is a valuable member of the Protocols team responsible for network protocols, security and web application development components of the Cincom Smalltalk Foundation. With Cincom® ObjectStudio® and Cincom® VisualWorks® both built on the same foundation, this engineering group is responsible for critical improvements that enhance both products. Specifically, Vladimir combines his experience in Smalltalk and JavaScript to enhance the web application development components in Cincom Smalltalk

Vladimir first decided that there must be something better than Basic to create wargame simulations back before entering college.  Unfortunately, the internet back then just wasn’t what it is today, and he remained oblivious of Smalltalk while pursuing his other love, physics, and into the early 90’s when he first heard talk of Smalltalk from a fellow contract programmer in SAS.  Eager to make up for lost time, he’s spent most of his professional life since then working with Smalltalk and also (more recently) as a JavaScript developer.  A few years ago he found an opportunity at Cincom to combine working with Smalltalk and JavaScript and has been doing so from his home in Maryland up to the present time

Apart from work, Vladimir has engaged in various martial arts (most recently Kung Fu and Kunst des Fechtens) and now does some bouldering.  He has also written a couple of short (and so far unpublished) novels