Smalltalk to get a second crack at the whip

In 2018, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will invest $1.2 billion to make Smalltalk their next major enterprise programming language. It will be much like IBM’s VisualAge initiative back in the 1990s, except that this time HPE will not be scared off by competition from something like Java (and Sun Microsystems’ marketing muscle).

A Smalltalk R&D lab will be opened in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, led by Richard Kenneth Eng, a noted Smalltalk evangelist and formerly retired software engineer with over 20 years experience in systems programming, database applications, and the financial industry. With a team of expert Smalltalk developers, they will build extensive enterprise software infrastructure in support of Business Intelligence, CRM, MDM, ERP, SCM, and so on. Also, a strong focus will be placed on machine learning applications (Watson, meet “Wozniak”).

The Smalltalk lab will operate under the auspices of Hewlett Packard Labs, which are dedicated to delivering major innovations. This is “a marriage made in heaven,” said HPE President and CEO Meg Whitman, who was profoundly inspired by Mr. Eng’s Smalltalk advocacy.

“Giving new life to this venerable language is a rare privilege and I expect great things for the enterprise software industry moving forward,” Ms. Whitman intoned.