snapshotting explanation for a Smalltalker

[Mariano Martinez Peck]

Hi guys. I was checking the link:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20117924-264/google-debuts-dart-a-javascript-alternative/

And i read:

"Google is evaluating the best way to integrate Dart directly into its
Chrome browser, something Bak is keen on. One reason: it will enable a
"snapshotting" technology that dramatically improves a Web app's start-
up time. Snapshotting involves taking an application and "serializing"
it into a single block of data.

In one test of snapshotting, a 55,000-line Dart program loaded in 60
milliseconds compared to 640 milliseconds without it, Bak said. A
conventional JavaScript program would load in comparable time as Dart
without snapshotting, he said. "I can see a lot of optimizations that
'll be applicable to Dart" when it's integrated directly into a
browser, he added. "

So I wonder...is this a kind of Smalltalk image? what is similar and
what different?

Finally, do you have details on the serializer which generates such
snapshot?

Thanks

[Gilad Bracha]

Hi Mariano,

On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 5:55 AM, Mariano Martinez Peck <maria...@gmail.com> wrote:

So I wonder...is this a kind of Smalltalk image? what is similar and
what different?

Better analog is a Strongtalk BST file. It contains the classes and compile-time constants, but no state.  

--
Cheers, Gilad