Has Smalltalk truly scaled to meet the demands of enterprise computing? This article discusses the evolution of Smalltalk, from a research-oriented language to a standard object-oriented (OO) fifth-generation language (5GL) widely used in enterprise computing. It highlights Smalltalk's journey from the "Parc" to Main Street, addressing the technical challenges faced by implementors and application developers. The paper references a study that ranked Smalltalk highly in various categories for development tools, including a demanding telephone switch application traditionally dominated by C or proprietary languages. This success demonstrates Smalltalk's scalability and suitability for complex tasks. By showcasing Smalltalk's ability to address major technical hurdles across a broad spectrum of applications, this article argues that Smalltalk is indeed a scalable application 5GL. It provides a compelling case for Smalltalk's continued relevance and importance in the landscape of enterprise computing.
Published in Communications of the ACM, this article focuses on the practical application and evolution of Smalltalk, a programming language relevant to the journal’s scope in computer science. By discussing Smalltalk’s adoption for enterprise computing, it provides insights for application developers and technology professionals. This showcases how object-oriented languages scale to meet the needs of real-world applications, aligning with the journal's mission to communicate advancements and practical experiences in computing.