Outside of consulting, my main Smalltalk use is my language translator. To start to learn Squeak, I ported my translator from VisualWorks 5i.4 NC to Squeak. I was pleased at how simply that was done. I found that the translations are identical, so Squeak did not affect the functionality at all.
Some of what I have had to do with characters beyond the ASCII set, in VisualWorks, aren't necessary in Squeak. However, there are some circumstances where characters don't display correctly in Squeak (they are boxes). The output files are equivalent, so it doesn't matter. I used the Squeak version to start on translating Swedish to English. I already translate much of Dutch (many naval history-related topics, the translation starts at about 85%, prior to any work on improvement).
I was a little dismayed that translating 195 pages of Dutch text took about 107 seconds in Squeak, while in Visual Works, the time was about 34 seconds. That is not critical, but it is still a little bothersome.
I am looking for new opportunities, as my last contract ended on March 31st. I am currently in the Minneapolis area, although my home is in the Dallas area.
I have been doing Smalltalk consulting since March 1992, primarily with VisualWorks, although I also have recently done ObjectStudio (and Enfin).
