The Early History of Smalltalk

Bret Victor’s comprehensive retrospective on the early history of Smalltalk offers a deep dive into the origins of one of the most influential programming languages in history. Developed at Xerox PARC in the 1970s, Smalltalk pioneered the concepts of object-oriented programming, graphical user interfaces, and dynamic development environments. The article explores the vision of Alan Kay and his team, who sought to create a personal computing environment that would empower users to create and explore ideas. By documenting the technical challenges, design philosophies, and the collaborative atmosphere at PARC, the text provides essential context for how these innovations laid the foundation for modern software development. It serves as a vital historical resource for developers and historians alike, illustrating how a radical research project transformed into a cornerstone of computer science and shaped the trajectory of personal computing for decades to come.