Pharo vs Smalltalk

Struggling to choose between Pharo and Smalltalk? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Pharo is a Development solution with tags like opensource, crossplatform, objectoriented, dynamically-typed, live-programming, ide.

It boasts features such as Live programming environment, Pure object-oriented language, Open source with MIT license, Cross-platform - runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Smalltalk syntax and ecosystem, Fast execution, REPL and debugging tools, Comes with many built-in libraries and frameworks and pros including Very fast and lightweight, Excellent for rapid prototyping, Live coding allows quick iteration, Strong community and ecosystem, Easy to learn for beginners, Very flexible and customizable.

On the other hand, Smalltalk is a Development product tagged with objectoriented, dynamically-typed, reflective, integrated-development-environment, incremental-code-development.

Its standout features include Object-oriented programming language, Live programming environment, Everything is an object, Uses message passing for communication between objects, Supports reflection and metaprogramming, Automatic memory management with garbage collection, Dynamically typed language, and it shines with pros like Pure object-oriented programming model makes it easy to understand code, Live environment enables rapid prototyping and iterative development, Reflection and metaprogramming allow powerful program analysis and modification, Garbage collection simplifies memory management, Dynamically typed language is flexible and reduces boilerplate code.

Feature	Pharo	Smalltalk
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Development	Development

Product Overview

Pharo

Description: Pharo is an open-source, cross-platform programming language and integrated development environment focused on live programming. It is object-oriented and dynamically typed, designed for creating custom business applications, financial analytic tools, visualization software, and more.

Smalltalk

Description: Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. It was designed for incremental code development and testing, featuring an integrated development environment, a file system, and a system command shell. It paved the way for many IDE features that are now common in other languages.

Key Features Comparison

Pharo Features

• Live programming environment
• Pure object-oriented language
• Open source with MIT license
• Cross-platform - runs on Windows, macOS, Linux
• Smalltalk syntax and ecosystem
• Fast execution
• REPL and debugging tools
• Comes with many built-in libraries and frameworks

Smalltalk Features

• Object-oriented programming language
• Live programming environment
• Everything is an object
• Uses message passing for communication between objects
• Supports reflection and metaprogramming
• Automatic memory management with garbage collection
• Dynamically typed language

Pros & Cons Analysis

Pharo

Pros

• Very fast and lightweight
• Excellent for rapid prototyping
• Live coding allows quick iteration
• Strong community and ecosystem
• Easy to learn for beginners
• Very flexible and customizable

Cons

• Less popular than other languages
• Limited third-party libraries
• Not suitable for all application domains
• Steep learning curve for some concepts
• Tooling not as rich as some alternatives

Smalltalk

Pros

• Pure object-oriented programming model makes it easy to understand code
• Live environment enables rapid prototyping and iterative development
• Reflection and metaprogramming allow powerful program analysis and modification
• Garbage collection simplifies memory management
• Dynamically typed language is flexible and reduces boilerplate code

Cons

• Less commonly used than many other languages
• Limited compile-time checking due to dynamic typing
• Lack of static typing can make large programs harder to understand
• Not designed for high-performance or system programming
• Smaller ecosystem of third-party libraries compared to other languages

Pricing Comparison

Pharo

• Open Source
• Free

Smalltalk

• Open Source
• Free
• Freemium