Starting again

Time to retrace my steps, so I am sure I understand code that I read later

Download the PBE-OneClick, and started my way through it

ProfStef lessons 1st, then Pharo By Example, the book

Highlight text in the workspace and Alt-p or rt-click to "print it", and the expression is evaluated, then printed to the workspace.

It stays highlighted, so it is easy to then delete or backspace

Highlight text in the workspace and Alt-d to "do it".  Expression is evaluated.

Messages
Unary - one argument following an object

Binary one argument between two objects

Keyword - as many arguments as you like, each with a keyword preceding it.

Each keyword is suffixed by a colon.  e.g. Gordon middleName: 'Reynolds' lastName: 'Love'.

. (full stop) completes an expression

Precedence:  Unary then binary then keyword, left to right when of equal precedence

Always - even for arithmetic expressions.

Parentheses alter the precedence order

If you end an expression with ; (rather than . ), the subject of the next line is left implicit, and it will be the same as the subject of the line just ended.  This is called a message cascade.

e.g.
Transcript show: 'hello'.
Transcript show: 'Smalltalk'.
Transcript cr.

"is equivalent to:"

Transcript
  show: 'hello';
  show: 'Smalltalk' ;
  cr.

Blocks are
   anonymous methods that can be
      stored as variables and
      executed on demand
   delimited by square brackets [ ]

Here is a block that adds 2 to its argument (its argument is named x):"  :x is, in effect, also the local variable.

[:x | x+2].

"We can execute a block by sending it value messages."

[:x | x+2] value: 5.

[Browser open] value.

[:x | x+2] value: 10.

[:x :y| x + y] value:3 value:5.

Declare a variable, enclose it in | |  e.g.

|b| 

Blocks can be assigned to a variable, and executed later

|b|

b := [:x | x+2].

b value: 12.

Sends '12' into b, which is an object which takes its input and adds 2 to it.

Transcripts are little workpads on the screen

Transcript open.

Conditionals - messages sent to boolean objects

3 > 10 

ifTrue: [Transcript show: 'maybe there''s a bug ....']

ifFalse: [Transcript show: 'No : 3 is less than 10'].