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| Alert: Self Release 4.2.1 is not an active research project. |
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Release 4.2.1
Adam Spitz, Alex Ausch, and David Ungar
Sun Microsystems Laboratories
April 16, 2004
Late-breaking news: Self now runs under Mac OS 10.3 (Panther), including G3 Macs. (A couple of weeks ago we goofed and released a version of 4.2.1 that didn't run on the G3.) Additionally, the Self source-level profiler has been resurrected. See the included release notes for a full list of changes. Previous news: The optimizing compiler has been ported to PowerPC (thanks to Michael Abd-El-Malek). Self runs much faster on Mac OS X as a result.
In 1995 the Self Group at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Inc., and Stanford University made available Release 4.0 of the experimental object-oriented programming language Self. Although Self is no longer an official project at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, we have seen many of Self's innovations adopted. The Morphic GUI framework has been incorporated into Squeak, and the Virtual Machine ideas provided the initial inspiration for the Java™ HotSpot™ performance engine. However, the language and programming environment have yet to be mined for ideas. Now, Self runs on the Macintosh platform (with optimization!). We have used Self on Mac OS X to do many hours of work on G4 Powerbooks. With the availability of the optimizing compiler on PowerPC, the system is much quicker and more responsive on Mac OS X, compared to previous releases. In order to port Self, Dave has cleaned up the virtual machine, and added a portability framework. This release will therefore be of interest to two new groups, those who want to try using a prototype-based language on a Macintosh, and those who want to port Self to other platforms (such as WinTel).
Regardless, if you want to run Self 4.2.1 or work on the virtual machine, start by obtaining and unpacking:
After downloading and unpacking the Self 4.2.1 file, find the objects directory. On the Macintosh, see section 5 of the release notes for directions on how to run Self. If you are not on the Macintosh, you need to make the Self file executable (chmod +x Self) and type either Self -s Demo.self or Self -s BareBones.snap. ( If you make the snapshots executable and put the objects directory in your path, you can simply invoke a snapshot file to start Self. ) The demo snapshot contains the self-guided tutorial.
If you want to work on the virtual machine, you also need the following:
If you want to discuss Self with other interested people, there is a mailing list at self-interest@egroups.com. We would like to thank Jecel Assumpcao Jr for investing the time and effort to deeply understand the Self system, and furthermore for his help in explaining Self to many folks on the Self mailing list. Jecel also hosts the Self Swiki.
For information on the programming environment (essentially unchanged for Self 4.2.1), please refer to the Web page on Self 4.0.
We hope that you will enjoy the chance to experience a different form of object-oriented programming.
Supplemental Information
- An HTML version of the Self tutorial, `Prototype-Based Application Construction Using Self 4.0', courtesy of Steve Dekorte. Thanks, Steve!
- In addition, see the Self bibliography for a listing of Self papers with on-line abstract
Acknowledgments
This release was prepared by Alex Ausch, Adam Spitz and David Ungar. Kristen McIntyre helped with the Mac port. Self owes its existence to the members of the Self Group and to the support of Sun Microsystems Laboratories, directed by Glenn Edens.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Java, and HotSpot are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
