Learning Smalltalk
Dan Ingalls wrote an article in the 1981 Smalltalk Issue of Byte Magazine entitled, Design Principles Behind Smalltalk which provides an overview of the core ideas of Smalltalk. This paper is considered required reading for anyone new to Smalltalk.

One of the best ways to learn Smalltalk is to download one of the versions of Smalltalk, install it, and grab a copy of one of the many free online Smalltalk books. Then dive in and get your fingers and mind immersed into the world of objects communicating with each other via messages.

Another great way to learn Smalltalk is follow one of the tutorials available on the net.

If you are looking for an alternative to exising curly brace langauges (C++, Java) this tutorial is a good starting place. Learning Smalltalk by Examples: Smalltalk - coming of age and offering an alternative to C and C++.

Smalltalk Idioms by AOKI Atsushi presents an excellent Japanese and English version of the tutorial book with the same title. It makes use of the Non-Commercial Edition of VisualWorks Smalltalk.

There is also a general Beginners Guide To Smalltalk, well, for beginners.

If you already know C++, Java or one of the other "curly brace" languages, i.e. that use "{ }", then Wilf LaLonde's eleven page article "I can Read C++ and Java But I can't Read Smalltalk" (in PDF format) is a excellent start for existing programmers. To find out some reasons why Smalltalk is so much better than Java click here.

A short and "Gentle Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming" is available in PDF format here.

A brief paper about "The Smalltalk Collection Classes" is available in PDF format here.

An Introduction To Smalltalk Via "10000 factorial" shows how Smalltalk can handle very large numbers. Did I say very large? I meant very very large!

Here is an article that provides: A brief and concrete introduction to the world of objects and Smalltalk, especially Squeak..

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