2003 · Languages & software
Smalltalk connected a programming model with an interactive personal environment.
Visual guide
Keep state with behaviour.
Ask another object to act.
Change the system interactively.
Language, graphics and interaction could be designed as one medium for learning and creating.
Object-oriented programming has several traditions; Smalltalk’s message-based approach is one influential strand.
01 · The idea
Alan Kay helped pioneer ideas behind modern object-oriented languages and led the team that developed Smalltalk. Objects exchanged messages inside an environment where programs could be explored and changed interactively. His wider vision placed powerful computing in the hands of individuals, including children.
Language, graphics and interaction could be designed as one medium for learning and creating.
02 · The people
Alan Kay envisioned personal computers as interactive media for learning and creative work. At Xerox PARC, he led the team that developed Smalltalk and helped advance object-oriented programming and graphical interfaces. His Dynabook concept imagined portable computing for children long before such devices became common. Later work at Viewpoints Research Institute and Hewlett-Packard continued his exploration of programming, education, and new computing environments.
Read the biography ↗03 · Read further
Original explanations based on the official award record. The subject label is an editorial navigation aid.
Automata, grammars and algorithms helped make compilers teachable and dependable.
The story
Abstraction lets a system change inside while preserving its promises outside.
The story