A refactoring tool for smalltalk

Abstract

Refactoring is an important part of the evolution of reusable software and frameworks. Its uses range from the seemingly trivial, such as renaming program elements, to the profound, such as retrofitting design patterns into an existing system. Despite its importance, lack of tool support forces programmers to refactor programs by hand, which can be tedious and errorprone. The Smalltalk Refactoring Browser is a tool that carries out many refactorings automatically, and provides an environment for improving the structure of Smalltalk programs. It makes refactoring safe and simple, and so reduces the cost of making reusable software.

Meta-environment and executable meta-language using smalltalk: an experience report

“…Using this, an executive meta-environment can change the code of the running program whenever the metamodel changes and thus establish full causality. An implementation of the metaenvironment can even rely on the predefined refactorings of the RefactoryBrowser [37] to do so. This is different from purely introspective reflection, as for example given in Java, where the structure of running programs must not be changed and thus causality is difficult to establish.…”

Unanticipated integration of development tools using the classification model

“…A method addition is a method that is deÿned in a package, but that belongs to a class that is not deÿned in that package. 4 In other words, it is a method that can be loaded into a system to extend some existing class, and is exactly what we need to support the packaging customisations of the classiÿcation model.…”

“…This editor is embedded on the right of the classiÿcations list. It integrates tools to edit all kinds of source code entities with the Refactoring Browser [4] and objects with the Trippy object inspector. The application returned by the editor service is integrated in the StarBrowser using VisualWorks' subcanvas technology.…”

“…See http://www.squeak.org/ for information and downloads 4. In VisualWorks we use parcels or bundles and packages.…”

A browser for incremental programming

“…The Browser was revolutionary when it was ÿrst introduced, and over the intervening years it has been improved in several ways. For example, semi-automated refactoring has been added, leading to a tool known as the Refactoring Browser [1], and in many Smalltalk dialects some form of package construct has subsumed the original primitive categorization of classes. Nevertheless, the way in which today's browser organizes the methods of a class is essentially the same as in 1980: a hierarchy of manually assigned "protocols".…”