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UKSTUG Meeting: Adrian Soma - VEO: A Live Visual Smalltalk environment - 25 February 2026
by UK Smalltalk Feb. 19, 2026

Feb. 19, 2026

Introducing VEO: A Live Visual Smalltalk that reimagines what a Smalltalk programming environment can be. VEO enables direct visual manipulation of any object and the creation of windowless visual interfaces. It is built around four core principles: all objects are visual; a single infinite zoomable and pannable canvas serves as the workspace; code can be written "in the air" anywhere in that space to send, evaluate and animate messages and live expressions; and live expressions can freely combine symbols, literals and live object references. Adrian Soma began his professional programming career in 1987, with a longstanding focus on the fundamental challenges of programming itself — particularly user interface design and interaction. He first encountered Smalltalk in 1996 and has worked with it ever since. An early project that would prove formative was an interactive chess course application, for which he built a custom graphical object system from scratch. That system became the first seeds of VEO, the Live Visual Smalltalk environment he has been researching and developing since 2006. This will be an online meeting. If you'd like to join us, please sign up in advance on the meeting's Meetup page ( https://www.meetup.com/ukstug/events/312911115/ ) to receive the meeting details.

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ESUG call for a conference chair
by stephane ducasse Feb. 6, 2026

Feb. 6, 2026

Hello people Even if I loved ESUG conference and IWST is a major important step for many young Smalltalkers, I decided that I do not want to organise ESUG this year. So far I will continue the discussions with the local organiser for the budget, set up the information on the web site and I will contact the video guys but I think that it will be the maximum I will do. So let me know if some of you want to join the effort because I’m exhausted and fed up also by all the free good energy that I spent on Smalltalk survival. Sometimes I do not think that this is either considered nor valuable. I have the impression that many people like to play in their own little places and just like to eat cookies others put on the table. I do not have free cookies anymore. Contact me privately if you want to help. S.

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ESUG Mailinglist: Server work next 24h
by Marcus Denker Jan. 22, 2026

Jan. 22, 2026

Hi, We are updating the ESUG list server. Please wait with sending messages for ~24 hours I will send another mail when the change is done Marcus

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UKSTUG Meeting: Kasper Østerbye - AI Inside Pharo - 28 January 2026
by UK Smalltalk Jan. 15, 2026

Jan. 15, 2026

This talk explores what it means to work with AI from inside a live Pharo system rather than treating AI as an external chatbot. I will demonstrate experiments where AI models are invoked directly from the Playground, including a concrete implementation of conversation history (AIAHistory) and experiments across multiple models and providers. Rather than focusing on code generation, the emphasis is on workflows: how different conversation structures affect results, how styles and constraints can be imposed on generated comments, and how AI systems can be inspected for systematic errors and limitations. Examples include documentation support, UML generation (via PlantUML), and experiments in automated paper review. The talk is experimental in nature and rooted in Smalltalk’s strengths: reflection, live objects, and tools that are part of the system rather than bolted on. The goal is not to present a finished framework, but to share concrete insights, failures, and possibilities for AI as a native Pharo tool. Kasper Østerbye ( https://github.com/kasperosterbye ) is a retired computer science researcher with a long background in programming languages and live systems, including decades of work with Smalltalk and Pharo. He now explores how AI models can be integrated as native tools inside a running Pharo system, focusing on conversation structure, systematic failures, and tool design rather than automation alone. This will be an online meeting. If you'd like to join us, please sign up in advance on the meeting's Meetup page ( https://www.meetup.com/ukstug/events/311265921/ ) to receive the meeting details.

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Master Internship sponsorship
by Noury Bouraqadi Jan. 15, 2026

Jan. 15, 2026

Hi, My lab has funding for several Master's degree internship positions. These are likely to be the first step to PhD positions. - Topics are related to Software Engineering with applications to Robotics, IoT, Digital Twins, and AI - Duration: 5 months - Funding: about 630 euros / month - Location: Douai, Lille area (30km), France Application: send me a CV with a short email introducing yourself and your background. Best, Noury Bouraqadi IMT Nord Europe France

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Looking for Metacello beta testers
by stephane ducasse Dec. 29, 2025

Dec. 29, 2025

Hello Under the radar, we are actively continiously cleaning Pharo deep core so that we can work on new features. For metacello, in Pharo 13 we introduced a strict mode (so that we can detect hidden dependencies), and other loading features to support module experimentations. It will make Pharo code more robust in the long term. Since a couple of months we are actively simplifying/cleaning Metacello (as the version available in Pharo) because we want to introduce new features such as the possibility to force the reload of baselines and others. Now the unit test coverage of metacello is quite low and we do not use/know all the features that are available and that you may rely on. So we would love to have beta testers that can just try to load their code in Pharo 14 alpha and report potential bugs or features drop we would have introduced. So do not hesitate and this is a nice way to help pharo S.

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[DEBT 2026] Future Debugging Techniques Call for Papers, submission 7th of March 2026
by Steven Costiou Dec. 24, 2025

Dec. 24, 2025

DEBT 2026: Call for Papers ================================================================================ DEBT 2026, Workshop co-located with ECOOP 2026, Brussels, Belgium Fourth Workshop on Future Debugging Techniques (https://2026.ecoop.org/home/debt-2026#Call-for-Papers) ================================================================================ Important Dates ----------------------- * Abstract submission deadline: Sat 28 Feb 2026 * Paper submission deadline: Sat 7 Mar 2026 * Author notification: Wed 15 Apr 2026 * Workshop: Monday 29 June 2026 ================================================================================ DEBT’26 is looking to advance state-of-the-art to debug modern software. We welcome researchers from all related areas aimed at helping with the hard task of diagnosing the root cause of bugs, including dynamic and static debugging techniques, online and postmortem debuggers, delta debugging, automatic bug finding, novel visualization techniques for debugging programs, etc. The workshop aims to gather the community and foster discussion from different perspectives. That is why we seek submissions in the form of papers as well as talks and tool demonstrations. The workshop is a venue for all approaches to debugging. A non-exclusive list of topics of interest is: * Debugging techniques, from static to dynamic techniques. * Innovative visualisation techniques. * Techniques targeted specific programming models and execution models (e.g., concurrent and parallel programming, microservices, distributed ledgers, web, etc. ) or hardware (e.g., debugging micro-controllers, mobile devices, Big Data applications, etc.). * Case studies and evaluation of such techniques, e.g., user studies on visualisation tools, debuggers, etc. * Surveys, taxonomies of bugs and bug patterns, and current practices/uses of debugging approaches. Papers must be formatted according to the guidelines for ACM sigplanpapers (\documentclass[sigplan,screen]{acmart}), seehttps://www.sigplan.org/Resources/Author/ <https://www.sigplan.org/Resources/Author/>for details. Submissions should be made via Easychair using the following link:https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=debt2026 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=debt2026> The accepted papers will be published in the ACM Digital Library, though authors will be able to opt out of this publication, if desired. At least one author of an accepted paper must register for the workshop and attend the event to present the work, and participate in the discussions. AUTHORS TAKE NOTE: The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of your conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work. Workshop Organizers --------------------------- * Burcu Kulahcioglu Ozkan, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands * Steven Costiou, Centre Inria de l’Université de Lille, France For more information see: https://2026.ecoop.org/home/debt-2026

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[SCLIT 2026] Call for Papers, submission deadline: 5th of January 2026
by Gordana Rakic Nov. 26, 2025

Nov. 26, 2025

*Dear Colleagues and Friends ,* *** * * We would like again to draw your attention to the SCLIT symposium <http://www.sclit.org> and its 10th edition that will take place in Munich, Germany, between Mon 16 - Fri 20 March 2026 <https://2026.programming-conference.org/home/sclit-2026>. That will be hosted again by the <Programming> conference. <https://2026.programming-conference.org/series/programming> While organizers of <Programming> will make organizational decisions, the symposium keeps its academic autonomy. ** The symposium is devoted to the various aspects of computer languages and their roles in software engineering, science, education, etc. Submissions that describe work in progress and provoke discussions and position papers are also welcome. SCLIT welcomes submissions that are the result of original and unpublished research. The scope of the workshop is wide and versatile within the theme of computer languages. Particularly, SCLIT invites papers that include, but are not limited to the following topics: - Languages: theoretical aspects of programming languages, programming paradigms, script languages, modelling languages, domain-specific languages, graphical languages, markup languages, specification languages, transformation languages, formal languages, intermediate languages… - Implementations: Compilers, debuggers, interpreters, virtual machines, transformation systems, translators, transpilers, intermediate representations, … - Tools: software metrics, static analyzers, clone detectors, abstract interpreters, visualizers, … We especially encourage submissions addressing problems encompassing multiple languages in a language-independent or cross-language manner. Paper contributions should not exceed 8 pages, including all figures, tables, and bibliography, following theACM primary two-column article template <https://www.acm.org/publications/authors/submissions>. We receive your submissions at the EasyChair submission page <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=sclit2026>, where *they will be further managed *. All submissions will be peer-reviewed by at least three members of the international program committee. Accepted submissions will be published as part of the <Programming> conference companion proceedings that will be published in the ACM Digital Library. *The submission deadline is the 5th of January 2026.* Call for Papers: https://2026.programming-conference.org/home/sclit-2026 Symposium info with history:http://www.sclit.org <http://www.sclit.org> Conference site: https://2026.programming-conference.org/ <https://2026.programming-conference.org/> We apologize for cross-posting and kindly ask you to forward this information to all interested persons. Best regards and thank you, Gordana and SCLIT team *

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CfP: SLE 2026 - 19th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering
by Andrei Chis Nov. 20, 2025

Nov. 20, 2025

19th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering (SLE 2026) 2 - 3 July 2026 Rennes, France https://conf.researchr.org/home/sle-2026 https://www.sleconf.org/2026/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We are pleased to invite you to submit papers to the 19th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering (SLE) which is devoted to the principles of software languages: their design, their implementation, and their evolution. The SLE 2026 conference will be co-located with STAF 2026 and hosted in Rennes, France, on 2 - 3 July 2026. --------------------------- Important Dates --------------------------- * Abstract submission (all tracks): Friday 27 February 2026 * Paper submission (all tracks): Friday 6 March 2026 * Paper notification (all tracks): Monday 20 April 2026 * Conference: Thursday 2 - Friday 3 July 2026 (co-located with STAF) All dates are Anywhere on Earth. --------------------------- Topics of Interest --------------------------- SLE covers software language engineering in general, rather than engineering a specific software language. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: *Software Language Design and Implementation - Approaches to and methods for language design - Static semantics (e.g., design rules, well-formedness constraints) - Techniques for specifying behavioral/executable semantics - Generative approaches (incl. code synthesis, compilation) - Meta-languages, meta-tools, language workbenches - AI-assisted language design and optimisation * Software Language Quality - Verification and formal methods for languages - Testing techniques for languages - Simulation techniques for languages - Model-based testing - AI-assisted validation * Software Language Integration and Composition - Coordination of heterogeneous languages and tools - Mappings between languages (incl. transformation languages) - Traceability between languages - Deployment of languages to different platforms - (AI-assisted) Language refactorings * Software Language Maintenance - Software language reuse - Language evolution - Language families and variability, language and software product lines * Domain-specific approaches for any aspects of SLE (design, implementation, validation, maintenance) * Empirical evaluation and experience reports of language engineering tools - User studies evaluating usability - Performance benchmarks - Industrial applications * Synergies between Language Engineering and emerging/promising research areas - Generative AI in language engineering (e.g., AI-based language modelling, AI-driven code generation tools) - Language engineering for AI. AI and ML language engineering (e.g., ML compiler testing, code classification, DSLs for AI processes and tasks…) - Quantum language engineering (e.g., language design for quantum machines) - Language engineering for physical systems (e.g., CPS, IoT, digital twins) - Socio-technical systems and language engineering (e.g., language evolution to adapt to social requirements) --------------------------- Types of Submissions --------------------------- SLE accepts the following types of papers: * Research papers: These are “traditional” papers detailing research contributions to SLE. Papers may range from 6 to 12 pages in length and may optionally include 2 further pages of bibliography/appendices. Papers will be reviewed with an understanding that some results do not need 12 full pages and may be fully described in fewer pages. * New ideas/vision papers: These papers may describe new, unconventional software language engineering research positions or approaches that depart from standard practice. They can describe well-defined research ideas that are at an early stage of investigation. They could also provide new evidence to challenge common wisdom, present new unifying theories about existing SLE research that provides novel insight or that can lead to the development of new technologies or approaches, or apply SLE technology to radically new application areas. New ideas/vision papers must not exceed 5 pages and may optionally include 1 further page of bibliography/appendices. * SLE Body of Knowledge: The SLE Body of Knowledge (SLEBoK) is a community-wide effort to provide a unique and comprehensive description of the concepts, best practices, tools, and methods developed by the SLE community. In this respect, the SLE conference will accept surveys, essays, open challenges, empirical observations, and case study papers on the SLE topics. These can focus on, but are not limited to, methods, techniques, best practices, and teaching approaches. Papers in this category can have up to 20 pages, including bibliography/appendices. * Tool papers: These papers focus on the tooling aspects often forgotten or neglected in research papers. A good tool paper focuses on practical insights that will likely be useful to other implementers or users in the future. Any of the SLE topics of interest are appropriate areas for tool papers. Submissions must not exceed 5 pages and may optionally include 1 further page of bibliography/appendices. They may optionally include an appendix with a demo outline/screenshots and/or a short video/screencast illustrating the tool. **Workshops**: Workshops will be organised by STAF. Please inform us and contact STAF 2026 organisers if you would like to organise a workshop of interest to the SLE audience. Information on how to submit workshops can be found on the STAF 2026 Website. --------------------------- Submission --------------------------- SLE 2026 has a single submission round for papers, including a mandatory abstract registration. Authors of accepted research papers will be invited to submit artefacts. --------------------------- Format --------------------------- Submissions have to use the ACM SIGPLAN Conference Format “acmart” ( https://sigplan.org/Resources/Author/#acmart-format) please make sure that you always use the latest ACM SIGPLAN acmart LaTeX template, and that the document class definition is \documentclass[sigplan,anonymous,review]{acmart}. Do not make any changes to this format! Ensure that your submission is legible when printed on a black and white printer. In particular, please check that colours remain distinct and font sizes in figures and tables are legible. To increase fairness in reviewing, a double-blind review process has become standard across SIGPLAN conferences. Accordingly, SLE will follow the double-blind process. Author names and institutions must be omitted from submitted papers, and references to the authors’ own related work should be in the third person. No other changes are necessary, and authors will not be penalized if reviewers are able to infer their identities in implicit ways. All submissions must be in PDF format. You can access the submission site from the conference website: https://conf.researchr.org/home/sle-2026 --------------------------- Concurrent Submissions --------------------------- Papers must describe unpublished work that is not currently submitted for publication elsewhere as described by SIGPLAN’s Republication Policy ( https://www.sigplan.org/Resources/Policies/Republication/) Submitters should also be aware of ACM’s Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism ( https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/plagiarism-overview) Submissions that violate these policies will be desk-rejected. --------------------------- Policy on Human Participant and Subject Research --------------------------- Authors conducting research involving human participants and subjects must ensure that their research complies with their local governing laws and regulations and the ACM’s general principles, as stated in the ACM’s Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects ( https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/research-involving-human-particip…) If submissions are found to be violating this policy, they will be rejected. --------------------------- Reviewing Process --------------------------- All submitted papers will be reviewed by at least three members of the program committee. Research papers and tool papers will be evaluated concerning soundness, relevance, novelty, presentation, validation, and replicability. New ideas/vision papers will be evaluated primarily concerning soundness, relevance, novelty, and presentation. Tool papers will be evaluated concerning relevance, presentation, and replicability. For fairness reasons, all submitted papers must conform to the above instructions. Submissions that violate these instructions may be rejected without review at the discretion of the PC chairs. --------------------------- Artefact Evaluation --------------------------- SLE will use an evaluation process to assess the quality of artefacts on which papers are based to foster the culture of experimental reproducibility. Authors of accepted research papers are invited to submit artefacts. --------------------------- Awards --------------------------- * Distinguished paper: Award for the most notable paper, as determined by the PC chairs based on the recommendations of the program committee. * Distinguished artefact: Award for the artefact most significantly exceeding expectations, as determined by the AEC chairs based on the recommendations of the artefact evaluation committee. * Distinguished reviewer: Award for the programme committee member that produced the most useful reviews as assessed by paper authors. * Most Influential Paper: Award for the SLE 2016 paper with the greatest impact, as judged by the SLE Steering Committee. --------------------------- Publication --------------------------- All accepted papers will be published in the ACM Digital Library. **AUTHORS TAKE NOTE**: The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of the conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work. --------------------------- Organisation --------------------------- * General chair: Arnaud Blouin, Univ Rennes, INSA Rennes, Inria, CNRS, IRISA * PC co-chair: Jordi Cabot, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology * PC co-chair: Shigeru Chiba, University of Tokyo, Japan --------------------------- Contact --------------------------- For additional information, clarification, or answers to any questions, please get in touch with the program co-chairs (jordi.cabot(a)list.lu and chiba(a)g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

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UKSTUG Meeting: Norbert Hartl - Soil: a database for fun and profit - 26 November 2025
by UK Smalltalk Nov. 19, 2025

Nov. 19, 2025

Soil ( https://github.com/ApptiveGrid/Soil ) is an object oriented database implemented completely in smalltalk/pharo. It makes it easy to build a persistent solution without the burden of mapping everything to some external DSL/database. It supports storing arbitrary graphs and enables transparent access to them. It has binary search indexes to make lookups of huge collections quite efficient. It is the main database behind ApptiveGrid - low code tool to build business processes. ( https://www.apptivegrid.de/) Norbert Hartl ( https://github.com/noha ) is an experienced software engineer and entrepreneur with a strong track record of delivering business projects and developing key libraries and frameworks. As the co-founder of ApptiveGrid and PharoPro, he focuses on creating efficient, zero-dependency software solutions that drive business innovation and streamline operations. This will be an online meeting. If you'd like to join us, please sign up in advance on the meeting's Meetup page ( https://www.meetup.com/ukstug/events/311265917/ ) to receive the meeting details.

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