The latest version of Pharo, the open-source Smalltalk-inspired language and core library adds a new breakpoint model based on the debug point system.

Pharo is strongly object-oriented and everything in the Pharo language is an object. The language is dynamically typed; inheritance is simple; memory management is automatic via a garbage collector and its syntax is very simple and small.

Pharo 12 adds a new breakpoint model based on the debug point system. The model supersedes Pharo's previous implementation of breakpoints and watchpoints, and the breakpoints it adds are configurable, composable, and extensible. The traditional breakpoints remain available, including conditional breakpoints, one-time breakpoints, and object-centric breakpoints. The model makes new types of breakpoint available such as chained-breakpoints, which condition the activation of certain breakpoints on the triggering of others. Debug points also feature a dedicated browser and integration options.

Alongside the new breakpoint system, Pharo 12 has changed to make the scalable fluid class syntax the default. Several changes have been made to Spec2 support, starting with the migration of more tools to be Spec2 widgets to prepare for the introduction of the Bloc graphic system. Bloc is a low-level UI infrastructure & framework for Pharo that will be included in a future version of Pharo. Meanwhile, the Spec2 UI framework has been enhanced in this release to support GTK 4.

This release also adds a leaner version of the Metacello package manager, and a more robust and strict mode for FFI.

The system features have also received work, with a new architecture for refactorings and domain specific transformations. The developers say code loading speed has been improved, and this release offers fast browsing via fully optimized package tags. Memory usage has been optmized via optimized method protocols, and the compiler has been simplificied and improved.

The virtual machine support has also been improved, with massive image support with permanent space, and faster String/ByteArray comparison speed.

Pharo 12 is available now. 

More Information

Pharo Website

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