VisualAge
Encyclopedia
VisualAge was the name of a family of computer integrated development environment
s from IBM
, which included support for multiple programming languages. VisualAge was first released in the 1980s and is still available in 2011. VisualAge was also marketed as “VisualAge Smalltalk” and IBM have stated that XL C++ is the 'follow on' product to VisualAge.
, which was established in 1984 and had responsibility for application development tools. The EZ View dialog manager product, a personal computer derivative of the user interface elements of the ISPF 327x product was one of the first products in this family. The lab also had a group which was one of the early adopters of object-oriented programming
technologies within IBM using an internally developed language called ClassC to develop applications with more sophisticated graphical user interface
s which were just starting to be widely available.
Eventually, the availability of usable implementations of Smalltalk
for IBM PC
-AT class machines allowed IBM advanced technology projects to experiment with Smalltalk. At about the same time, visual interface construction tools were coming up on the radar screens. Smalltalk research projects such as InterCons by David N. Smith of IBM
, and Fabrik by a team at Apple led by Dan Ingalls were building interactive graphical applications built from composition of graphical primitives. Higher level construction of user interfaces was evidenced by other tools such as Jean-Marie Hullot
's interface builder first done in Lisp and then evolved to become the Interface Builder
tool in NeXTStep
, and later Mac OS X
, which allowed for building user interfaces by WYSIWYG
composition of UI widgets which could be "wired" to each other and to application logic written in Objective-C
.
The original prototype which led to VisualAge was an attempt "to make something like the NeXT interface builder" within the Smalltalk/V development environment. By the time VisualAge was released as a product, much more emphasis was placed on visual construction of application logic as well as of the user interface. This emphasis was in part due to the "positioning" for "strategic" reasons of Smalltalk as a generator rather than a language within IBM's System Application Architecture.
Languages (not every language is available on every platform listed):
Platforms:
which was acquired by IBM and run as a wholly owned subsidiary for several years before being absorbed into the overall IBM organization.
VisualAge for Java was based on an extended Smalltalk virtual machine
which executed both Smalltalk and Java byte codes. Java natives were actually implemented in Smalltalk.
VisualAge Micro Edition, which supported development of embedded Java applications and cross system development, was a reimplementation of the IDE in Java. This version of VisualAge morphed into the Eclipse Framework.
Various members of the family have been replaced by products in the WebSphere
Studio family of products. As of 2009, the original VisualAge product continues to be promoted by IBM as “VisualAge Smalltalk”. In 2005, Smalltalk specialist Instantiations, Inc. acquired a worldwide license to VisualAge Smalltalk, and offers an “enhanced product” VA Smalltalk. The C, C++ and Fortran compiler on AIX, Linux and z/OS are renamed as XL compiler series.
Integrated development environment
An integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
s from IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, which included support for multiple programming languages. VisualAge was first released in the 1980s and is still available in 2011. VisualAge was also marketed as “VisualAge Smalltalk” and IBM have stated that XL C++ is the 'follow on' product to VisualAge.
Early history
VisualAge was born in the IBM development lab in Cary, North CarolinaCary, North Carolina
Cary is a large town and suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located almost entirely in Wake County, it is the second largest municipality in that county and the third largest municipality in The Triangle after Raleigh and Durham...
, which was established in 1984 and had responsibility for application development tools. The EZ View dialog manager product, a personal computer derivative of the user interface elements of the ISPF 327x product was one of the first products in this family. The lab also had a group which was one of the early adopters of object-oriented programming
Object-oriented programming
Object-oriented programming is a programming paradigm using "objects" – data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions – to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as data abstraction,...
technologies within IBM using an internally developed language called ClassC to develop applications with more sophisticated graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
s which were just starting to be widely available.
Eventually, the availability of usable implementations of Smalltalk
Smalltalk
Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. Smalltalk was created as the language to underpin the "new world" of computing exemplified by "human–computer symbiosis." It was designed and created in part for educational use, more so for constructionist...
for IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
-AT class machines allowed IBM advanced technology projects to experiment with Smalltalk. At about the same time, visual interface construction tools were coming up on the radar screens. Smalltalk research projects such as InterCons by David N. Smith of IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, and Fabrik by a team at Apple led by Dan Ingalls were building interactive graphical applications built from composition of graphical primitives. Higher level construction of user interfaces was evidenced by other tools such as Jean-Marie Hullot
Jean-Marie Hullot
Jean-Marie Hullot is a French computer scientist and programmer who authored important programs for the original Macintosh, NeXTSTEP and Mac OS X platforms. These include the SOS Interface for the Mac, which later became Interface Builder for NeXTSTEP , and later still evolved into an important...
's interface builder first done in Lisp and then evolved to become the Interface Builder
Interface Builder
Interface Builder is a software development application for Apple's Mac OS X operating system. It is part of Xcode , the Apple Developer Connection developer's toolset. Interface Builder allows Cocoa and Carbon developers to create interfaces for applications using a graphical user...
tool in NeXTStep
NEXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP was the object-oriented, multitasking operating system developed by NeXT Computer to run on its range of proprietary workstation computers, such as the NeXTcube...
, and later Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, which allowed for building user interfaces by WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. The term is used in computing to describe a system in which content displayed onscreen during editing appears in a form closely corresponding to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product...
composition of UI widgets which could be "wired" to each other and to application logic written in Objective-C
Objective-C
Objective-C is a reflective, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to the C programming language.Today, it is used primarily on Apple's Mac OS X and iOS: two environments derived from the OpenStep standard, though not compliant with it...
.
The original prototype which led to VisualAge was an attempt "to make something like the NeXT interface builder" within the Smalltalk/V development environment. By the time VisualAge was released as a product, much more emphasis was placed on visual construction of application logic as well as of the user interface. This emphasis was in part due to the "positioning" for "strategic" reasons of Smalltalk as a generator rather than a language within IBM's System Application Architecture.
Name brand
The name VisualAge was the result of a contest between the members of the development team. After the initial release of VisualAge/Smalltalk the name VisualAge became a brand of its own and VisualAges were produced for several different combinations of languages and platforms.Languages (not every language is available on every platform listed):
- BASICBASICBASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
- COBOLCOBOLCOBOL is one of the oldest programming languages. Its name is an acronym for COmmon Business-Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments....
- CC (programming language)C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
- C++C++C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
- EGL
- FortranFortranFortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
- JavaJava (programming language)Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
- PacbasePacbaseIBM VisualAge Pacbase is a code-switching structured programming language that is developed and maintained by IBM. VisualAge Pacbase runs on both IBM and non-IBM mainframes and integrates with IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer...
- PL/IPL/IPL/I is a procedural, imperative computer programming language designed for scientific, engineering, business and systems programming applications...
- IBM RPG
- TPFTransaction Processing FacilityTPF is an IBM real-time operating system for mainframes descended from the IBM System/360 family, including zSeries and System z9. The name is an initialism for Transaction Processing Facility....
- SmalltalkSmalltalkSmalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. Smalltalk was created as the language to underpin the "new world" of computing exemplified by "human–computer symbiosis." It was designed and created in part for educational use, more so for constructionist...
Platforms:
- IBM AIX
- OS/2OS/2OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
- i5/OS (formerly named OS/400OS/400IBM i is an EBCDIC based operating system that runs on IBM Power Systems. It is the current evolution of the operating system named i5/OS which was originally named OS/400 when it was introduced with the AS/400 computer system in 1988....
) - LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
- Mac OS XMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
- Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
- z/VMZ/VMz/VM is the current version in IBM's VM family of virtual machine operating systems. z/VM was first released in October 2000 and remains in active use and development . It is directly based on technology and concepts dating back to the 1960s, with IBM's CP/CMS on the IBM System/360-67...
- z/OSZ/OSz/OS is a 64-bit operating system for mainframe computers, produced by IBM. It derives from and is the successor to OS/390, which in turn followed a string of MVS versions.Starting with earliest:*OS/VS2 Release 2 through Release 3.8...
(formerly named OS/390OS/390OS/390 is an IBM operating system for the System/390 IBM mainframe computers.OS/390 was introduced in late 1995 in an effort, led by the late Randy Stelman, to simplify the packaging and ordering for the key, entitled elements needed to complete a fully functional MVS operating system package...
, MVSMVSMultiple Virtual Storage, more commonly called MVS, was the most commonly used operating system on the System/370 and System/390 IBM mainframe computers...
) - z/VSE
Evolution
Most of the members of the VisualAge family were written in Smalltalk no matter which language they supported for development. The IBM implementation of Smalltalk was produced by Object Technology InternationalObject Technology International
Object Technology International was founded in Ottawa, Ontario in 1988 and acquired by IBM in 1996. OTI was the company behind the VisualAge line Smalltalk and Java development tools that eventually culminated in the open source Eclipse tool platform and integrated development environment .OTI...
which was acquired by IBM and run as a wholly owned subsidiary for several years before being absorbed into the overall IBM organization.
VisualAge for Java was based on an extended Smalltalk virtual machine
Virtual machine
A virtual machine is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system". Modern virtual machines are implemented with either software emulation or hardware virtualization or both together.-VM Definitions:A virtual machine is a software...
which executed both Smalltalk and Java byte codes. Java natives were actually implemented in Smalltalk.
VisualAge Micro Edition, which supported development of embedded Java applications and cross system development, was a reimplementation of the IDE in Java. This version of VisualAge morphed into the Eclipse Framework.
Various members of the family have been replaced by products in the WebSphere
WebSphere
IBM WebSphere refers to a brand of computer software products in the genre of enterprise software known as "application and integration middleware". These software products are used by end-users to create applications and integrate applications with other applications...
Studio family of products. As of 2009, the original VisualAge product continues to be promoted by IBM as “VisualAge Smalltalk”. In 2005, Smalltalk specialist Instantiations, Inc. acquired a worldwide license to VisualAge Smalltalk, and offers an “enhanced product” VA Smalltalk. The C, C++ and Fortran compiler on AIX, Linux and z/OS are renamed as XL compiler series.
External links
- Description from Portland Pattern Repository
- VisualAge Enterprise Suite
- VA Smalltalk at Instantiations
- VisualAge for Java Tips and Tricks