Languages

Smalltalk

Object Oriented Language

Citation Formats

General Reference

Computing Atlas. "Smalltalk." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/languages/smalltalk.

APA Style

Computing Atlas. (n.d.). Smalltalk. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/languages/smalltalk

BibTeX

@misc{computingatlas-smalltalk,
  author = {Computing Atlas},
  title = {Smalltalk},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://computing.interactiveatlas.org/languages/smalltalk},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Smalltalk is a purely object oriented programming language originally created in the 1970s for educational use in constructionist learning, and later used in business. It was created at Xerox PARC by Learning Research Group scientists including Alan Kay, Dan Ingalls and Adele Goldberg; Smalltalk-80 was the first variant made available outside PARC, shared in 1981 with Tektronix, Hewlett-Packard, Apple and DEC. Its design, in which everything is an object, is the other parent, beside Simula, of the object oriented mainstream.

Facts

First Released

1980 1

Created during the 1970s at Xerox PARC; Smalltalk-80 was the first variant available outside PARC, shared for review in 1981.

Paradigm

Purely object oriented 1

Significance

The purely object oriented language from Xerox PARC whose design shaped virtually all object oriented languages that came after it. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Object Oriented Programming

The purely object oriented language; the Smalltalk origin account of the paradigm is the other side of the debated origin this atlas records on the OOP entity.

Source Wikipedia: Smalltalk

Kay led the development at Xerox PARC; the language was created by the Learning Research Group, including Dan Ingalls and Adele Goldberg.

Source Wikipedia: Alan Kay

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Smalltalk

Wikimedia FoundationOpening and History sections

Quote, Opening and History sections

Smalltalk is a purely object-oriented programming language that was originally created in the 1970s for educational use, specifically for constructionist learning, but later found use in business.

View the Source

1. Wikipedia: Smalltalk

Wikimedia FoundationHistory section

Quote, History section

It was created at Xerox PARC by Learning Research Group (LRG) scientists, including Alan Kay, Dan Ingalls, Adele Goldberg, Ted Kaehler, Diana Merry, and Scott Wallace.

View the Source

1. Wikipedia: Smalltalk

Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Object Oriented Programming, Opening section

Quote, Associated With: Object Oriented Programming, Opening section

Smalltalk is a purely object-oriented programming language that was originally created in the 1970s for educational use, specifically for constructionist learning, but later found use in business.

View the Source

Wikipedia: Simula

Wikimedia FoundationInfluenced By: Simula, History section

Quote, Influenced By: Simula, History section