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Self and Self: Whys and Wherefores

Stanford · talk · Watch on YouTube

Programming language designCompilers, interpreters & program analysis

What it is

David Ungar of IBM Research reflects at Stanford on the Self language project and argues the real legacy of ideas is the people. He covers its history, philosophy, successes and failures.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN points to it as the best account of what Self made possible and what its team went on to do.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 2 strong recommendations
  • first 2010, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “David Unger gave a great talk recently on this”

    Ungar's talk on Self, ending with what the project's people did next.

    mark_h, 2010-07 · Strong recommendation · in “Self language still alive - new release for Linux, Mac”

  2. “It contains a few gems, and is really worthwhile watching.”

    Conveys what the Self language made possible, with a few gems.

    sb, 2010-12 · Strong recommendation · in “The status of the Self language”

  3. “explains the history, philosophy, successes, and failures of the Self project”

    Ungar explains Self's history, philosophy, successes and failures.

    rileyphone, 2022-05 · Recommendation · in “Lisp, Smalltalk, and the power of symmetry (2014)”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: david ungar, self language, prototype-based oo, language implementation, programming history

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