SmallEiffel is a powerfull Eiffel compiler and you know what : it's free.
What does -0.xy mean?
That means Dominique Colnet (writter of SmallEiffel) hasn't finished to work :-) I had the chance (???) to compile with the first version (-0.99) : a lot of changes have been made. You can dream of version +0.00.
What does 0.4.i mean ?
That means SmallEiffel for Macintosh is still under development. I think the version 1.0.0 will be quiet good. I hope, version 1.0.0 will use more AppleEvents (to be scriptable), will be fully clickable and will have graphical classes to create real Macintosh application (I'm sure all recent mecanisms of System 7.5 won't be implemented at this time).
What does Macintosh mean?
Motorola Inside, of course :-)
What is SmallEiffel for Macintosh?
SmallEiffel for Macintosh is the official Macintosh version of SmallEiffel, an Eiffel compiler written by Dominique Colnet (colnet@loria.fr). SmallEiffel is fully written in Eiffel (Eiffel classes of the compiler aren't available for the moment). SmallEiffel for Macintosh is actually written in C/C++ with the ANSI C code generated by SmallEiffel itself.
SmallEiffel is available for Macintosh with at least a 68020 processor and for PowerMac (PPC code is produced whitout optimization of processor specifications )
What about the graphical interface with SmallEiffel ?
Because SmallEiffel is still under development, Dominique Colnet (writter of SmallEiffel) doesn't want to hear anything about graphical classes. I've decided to write my own graphical classes under MacOS and I want to create deferred object, which will be used under each graphical environment (OS2, Windows 95/NT, X, BeOS) without problems : the user will write Eiffel environment without using specific words, which may indicate under which environment it has been made. In fact, Eiffel classes aim to be totally portable (the virtual machin which will be added to SmallEiffel will render this portage easier).
What can I do if I don't know programming in Eiffel?
Buy the book written by Bertrand Meyer, the Eiffel's father (hey, don't belive what I say, it's a joke, this book is too hard to begin learning Eiffel :-)
And how do I compile Hello_world.e ?
It's easy :-D.
solution 1 : First put the file Hello_world.e in the folder "bin". Launch SmallEiffel. Select the option you want to apply to the project ( in the menu "option"). This option is stored immediately after each change in a prefs file. Choose the item "Select file ..." in the menu "File". In the dialog box you select the file "Hello_world.e". Because there's only one method of creation, the compiler takes it as default and the compilation starts. The files "hello_world.h / .c" are produced. You know have to include them in a C project that your preferred C compiler will compute (you may forget this problem when the interpreter will be available).
solution 2 : Drag'n Drop the file on the app (only one file at time for the moment).
What must I do if I have more than one class to compile ?
Put them in a directory where you want. Just put the root-class in the folder "bin". Launch SmallEiffel. Select the item "Select Folder ..." in the menu "File". In the dialog box which appears, you have to choose a file in the folder you've put all your class. the path of this folder will be added in the search path of SmallEiffel, and so SmallEiffel will find them.
And if there's more than one creation in my root-class ?
NB : not yet implemented.
You may check the option "first root-creation" in the prefs dialog (item "prefs"). If you check it, the first creation which will be found will be used as the default root-creation. It may speed up your work if you always put the root-creation at first, but it may be dangerous too :-( If the item isn't checked, a dialog will appear and you'll have to choose the creation method you want to be the root-creation.
What about the poor icon of SmallEiffel ?
I'm a programmer, not an artist :-) All suggestions are welcome.
Who are you ?
I'm 21 years old, french, and Student at Ecole Superieure d'Informatique et Applications de Lorraine in Nancy (ingeneer school). Dominique Colnet (writer of SmallEiffel) has been my Eiffel teacher for 2 years. I work with CodeWarrior 8 on a PowerMac 6200.
And SmallEiffel for BeBox ?
The Be version of SmallEiffel id under development. It's harder then on Mac because translating C++ classes in Eiffel is not so easy.
What are you doing now ?
I still works on SmallEiffel to write as much graphical classes as possible, before to release them. I'm working on a CodeWarrior plug-in too. An interpreter will be soon added to the distribution, so I'll have something new to do :-)
How could I help you, how could I help SmallEiffel and how could I help Eiffel ?
Use SmallEiffel. Send SmallEiffel bugs to Colnet@loria.fr. Send me system errors (SmallEiffel compiler intercept all errors : that means all system errors come from my code :-( ). Send me comments about all futur enhancements you would like to see in SmallEiffel for Macintosh. Please send me your configuration (processor and system version) if you can't find it in the file "tested on ...". I'm creating a mailing-list for SmallEiffel. If you want to suscribe send me a mail, with "SUBSCRIBE SMALLEIFFEL FOR MAC" <your complete e-mail adress>" in the body of the message. You'll receive information about new versions, which are not major releases, and that I'll not annouce in the news. I've decided to make new version available as soon as something interessant works fine, so there could be a new version each week.) To unsusbscribe send a mail with "UNSUBSCRIBE SMALLEIFFEL FOR MAC".
What's the best object oriented langage ?
Eiffel, of course !! But SmallTalk is good too :-)
