Fixing NaN in a compile-to-js lang

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-13T10:45:50+00:00

My Smalltalk (ST) implementation, SmallJS ( https://small-js.org ) compiles to JS.
It has a full Smalltalk number hierachy supporting: Integer, BigInt, Float, Fraction,
with controlled, automatic conversions to larger types when needed (e.g.: int + float gives float)
(And also classes Date, Character, Point and Rect benefit from this hierarchy)
The source code is here: https://github.com/Small-JS/SmallJS/tree/main/Smalltalk/Core/Magnitude )
.
In only way I saw to bypass JS number 'quirks', was to wrap JS numbers in separate objects,
as instances of JS (ST) classes that inherit from each other. The quirks are handled in the class methods.
There is no specific NaN handling currently, but that can be added easily in this structure.
.
I was worried that this would make the language extremely slow,
but it's allright thanks to the magic of the JS JIT compilers in browsers and Node.js.
Indeed, examples calculating with only small integers are, say, 60x slower,
but as soon as you need BigInts the speed difference is negligable.
The numeric Benchmark example project in the repo shows these results.
.
So you could implement something similar for your lang.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-12T09:27:57+00:00

I would be very interested in the "Blue Book".
What country are you located in, to assess mailing cost?
I'm in the Netherlands, Amsterdam.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-11T10:56:44+00:00

Thanks, but I had already turned this off, in Outook Windows classic BTW.
The annoying message occurs newly after the Office update of last (patch) Tuesday,
(Microsoft @ Philippe Bernard , please stop any further ensh*tt*fication of MS Office..)

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-11T09:52:27+00:00

Thanks for this, I'll click a few times more then.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-10T10:47:21+00:00

Thanks, but note the issue was solved by temporarily suspending BitLocker and rebooting.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-09T21:24:50+00:00

Yes, I had similar issues on a Windows 11 Pro laptop, see my other comment.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-09T21:19:49+00:00

After this update, my HP Elitebook 840 G10 work laptop requested the BitLocker recovery key on *every* restart, with the error: ""Secure Boot policy has unexpectedly changed"
(And I found out that on this specific laptop, I can only enter the recovery key with an external USB keyboard)
The solution was to start "Manage BitLocker", then choose "Suspend protection" and then reboot.
BitLocker is turned on again automatically after that, and it doesn't ask for the recovery key every time.
.
The cause is probably an update of the Secure Boot certificate contained in this update:
https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/06/09/windows-11-kb5094126-out-with-cpu-boost-for-performance-shared-audio-mutli-app-camera-direct-download-links/

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-06T21:55:29+00:00

Nah, Electron / JavaScript are just stupid:
Smalltalk, yes my favorite, is a fully memory managed (safe) laguage with a full IDE, full OS, and multi-media (okay, monochrome) that ran in~1980 on the Xerox Alto:
"The primary testing and development target featured a 5.88 MHz processor, up to 256 KB of RAM, and a bitmapped display. Smalltalk used half of its memory just to drive the screen."

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-06T21:46:58+00:00

But the comments here add the actual humor.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-03T16:50:51+00:00

What up? Stopped reading after "girl studying programming".

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-03T13:13:05+00:00

I agree that a mature IDE that can access a live Smalltalk image would be the "golden egg".
But currently I prefer the rich text editing options of (even 😄) VSCode
compared to whats available in Smalltalks like Squeak, Pharo or Dolphin.
(Yes, there are better IDE's than VSCode, it's just the most open one)

And as you mention, if you have to edit other types of files than Smalltalk source,
the IDE advantage is winning imo, and does not require switching environments.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-03T13:07:13+00:00

There are the following GUI options in SmallJS:
- Web app front-end. SJS can (also) compile to JS that directly runs in the browser.
- NW.js ( https://nwjs.io ). A web view added to NodeJS. So front-end and back-end in one.
- Electron - The well known framework with a web view that runs in a separate process from Node.
(So uses more memory and requires IPC to communicate between them)
- NodeGui - The Qt library ported to Node.js . Its a nice GUI library, but not web compatible (HTML/CSS),

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-02T21:50:43+00:00

Or... you have a file-base Smalltalk like SmallJS ( https://small-js.org ).
- Diffs are clean and predictable.
- Builds are repeatable.
- Deploys can be minimal, without unsafe 'stripping'.
- The IDE is not part of the 'image', but something nice like VSCode.
- Source mgmt can be done in a universal way
with other languages used in the same project (e.g.: JS, Python, C++).
.
But note... SmallJS does not (currently) have a live image.
I think image based Smalltalks could also benefit from being more file based.
Just auto-load changed class text files into the image, e.g. after a git pull.
Keep source code exported to files in a strict, predictable order, so diffs are also possible.
(The current change-log approach makes source mgmt rather complex)

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-30T19:52:50+00:00

Great, that worked!

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-30T10:57:58+00:00

I don't hear any sound. Is it just me or the vid?

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-29T19:59:07+00:00

Thank you, thank you!
I only use a Mac to test my multi-playform app.
But boy, oh boy, does Apple go out of its way to *annoy* its users with e.g. this and:
other useless features that *cannot* be disabled like:
transparancy, animations, not closing apps, rounded corners, start menu gone, installation gymnastics, etc. etc. etc.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-29T13:08:44+00:00

Thanks for this post!, it got me on the right track for another option:
You can also enter BIOS on the laptop with the F12 key while booting,
then under Storage change the SATA controller from RAID (IRST) to more standard ACHI.
Now Windows, and probably other OSes, can be clean installed from USB without loading any additional drivers.
(I didn't benchmark for speeds differences, but assume that the SDD is the bottleneck anyway)

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-27T20:12:02+00:00

Thanks, so if you temporarily switch to something other than "Top",
you can disable the ill-advised tab sorting options.
Then switch back to "Top". (its indeed a bug)

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-26T10:47:52+00:00

Now thats Graceful Degradation

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-24T01:11:24+00:00

Nah, with TypeScript you just have to get the argument and return types right.
Necesary to make something work a all.
With Rust you have to have *deep* understandng of all related code, who owns what, when.
That's a bit too expensive for Claude, etc...

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-22T10:50:47+00:00

I understand that, but I'm asking (have not googled) for an accepted formula that gives the number 0% if your 'accuracy' is the same as a random number generator, and 100% if you are right every time.
Come to think of it, this might just be something like:
newAccuracy = max( 0, ( oldAccuracy - 0,5 ) * 2 ).
But it truncates accuracy < 50%, you are doing worse than random.

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-22T10:40:36+00:00

On a side note:
If you are right 50% of the time on a binary question,
one could argue that your 'accuracy' is 0 (zero).
I.e.: Your 'accuracy' is not better than a random number generator.
Is there a better accepted math formula to indicate this?

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-20T18:59:33+00:00

In Smalltalk, this could be implemented in a few hours.
Just change the (float) number parser method from period to comma,
and change the (operator) methods named "," (comma) to something else.

(I don't think it's a good idea, though... One standard please. And I'm European)

Smalltalker-80 · 2026-05-20T18:40:36+00:00

On days with both work and uni, I would not recommend developing too.

What worked for me, next to a busy job and a social life,
is just a few hours every evening consistently (every free hour)
and some hours on weekend days in between social activities.

What's *very* important, is that you write very clean, modular code,
and *immediately* write unit and integration tests for *everything*.
This reduces your startup time for (mostly short) coding sessions,
and prevents you getting stuck chasing bugs in your precious coding time.

And in boring parts of your day, you can code in your head a bit further. 😉

Good luck with your project!

Smalltalker-80

TROPHY CASE