How Compatible is GNU Smalltalk with Squeak

Question

I'm working on an app in squeak that requires no graphics at all, its all just data manipulation. The problem is that I work in a fairly conservative environment and I dont think I'll be able to sell a squeak app to my managers (I feel like the bright colors, round interface and general "what-the-heck-is-that" feel of squeak will scare them off). So I'm considering running the app under GNU Smalltalk, as a more "traditional" command-line interface is less likely to scare off stakeholders.

So, can anyone either provide, or point me towards, a list or set of what features/classes are or are not compatible between Squeak and Gnu Smalltalk. In other words, how hard will it be to port an app from one to the other (again assuming that its non-graphical, so no need to worry about morphic)?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I agree 100% with igouy; in addition to that, the main difference will be the filesystem classes. GNU Smalltalk's are more similar to what you get with Squeak's Rio package.

You can convert your code from Squeak to GST with gst-convert which will also take care of some of the difference.

Answer 2

There is an ANSI Smalltalk Standard (http://www.smalltalk.org/versions/ANSIStandardSmalltalk.html). Gnu seems to be a full implementation of the standard (see Gnu Wiki) and Squeak seems to be fairly compliant (see Squeak Wiki). So stick to the standard and you should do well.