Top Features

Type Analysis & Enhanced Code Completion

Real-time and lag free. The VAST IDE's tools speed up your workflow and reduce the likelihood of bugs making it to production.

Live refactoring tools further improve the process and keep you focused on the task at hand.

Asynchronous Programming

Creating complex asynchronous behaviors is now easier with VAST's best-in-class futures/promises framework inspired by similar functionality from the Dart programming language.

Multi-CPU Capable with FFI & OsProcess

Whether using native threads, or OS processes, take advantage of multiple processors by using VAST's multi-threaded foreign function interface (FFI) or our OsProcess framework.

OsProcess code example using Ruby, Dart, Python, and Smalltalk

Platform

LLVM Compiler

State-of-the-art virtual machine technology utilizing the well-known LLVM compiler infrastructure for fast just-in-time (JIT) compilation.

VisualAge Smalltalk Compatible

Compatible with IBM® VisualAge® Smalltalk enabling fast and easy migration and upgrades.

Native Interface Support

Code Once. Deploy Anywhere. Native interface support provides platform-adapting OSObjects to facilitate the generation of native binding.

Asynchronous Calls

Bi-directionally communicate with other application threads both efficiently, and of course, safely too.

Core Libraries

Integrated Compression

Unified compression API support for Zip, Zip64, Brotli, Lz4, Zstd, and Gzip for increased software performance and reduced memory footprints.

Built-in Cryptography

Cryptographic bindings with enhanced SSL/TLS (v1.3) support and UUID generators help keep your software secure. Get a rich set of cryptographic primitives such as message digests, ciphers, public/private key, digital signatures, secure RNG, key derivation, and secure arenas.

OO Systems Programming

By using VAST's OsProcess framework, object-oriented systems programming is possible and operating system components are presented in a consistent, cross-platform set of abstractions.

Logging Framework

Logging framework provides rich, customizable support for creating development time, runtime, and rolling logs, with the ability to log to a socket, a file, or memory.

Communications

Database Support

Use Oracle, DB2, PostgreSQL, SQLite database drivers (as well as ODBC) that take advantage of RDBMS (Relational Database Management Systems). You can also combine them with our ORM (Object Relational Mapper): GLORP. Compatible with GemStone/S object-oriented databases.

Server Smalltalk (SST)

SST is a flexible communications framework that is the foundation of many VAST protocol implementations including distributed garbage collection, logical processes, web services, HTTP, SMTP, and IMAP.

Integrated Web Technology

Inclusion of the Seaside web framework, REST, HTTPS, jQuery, AJAX, and several other web development technologies and tools will get your web project off the ground quickly.

Web Services Tools

A self-contained, modular framework for accessing and hosting Web Services with tools for creating and deploying them.

Network Protocol Support

Powerful HTTP, IMAP, SMTP, IBM MQ series, and LDAP clients are all included for superior connectivity with a powerful sockets API including full support for TCP/IP V4/V6 protocols.

External Interface Support

Support for JSON, XML, CSV, COM (OLE, ACTIVEX), and STON (Smalltalk Object Notation). STON provides a lightweight, text-based object interchange in JSON format.

Version Control

ENVY Version Control

Unmatched version control. Store and compare all software components down to the method level.

Git Friendly

VAST now has Git-friendly integrated tooling. It's easy to use projects from our GitHub and the VAST Community Hub as well as code from private and public repositories.

Development Tools

Cross Platform Development

XD Server Workbench is a cross-development environment used in developing distributed processing, web hosting, and other server applications. Target deployment environments include all VAST development platforms.

IDE Tools

Best-in-class debuggers, code browsers, inspectors, a performance monitor, code reporting tools, code coverage analysis for tests, and linters.

WYSIWYG GUI Builders

VAST has two GUI builders to help visually build your application: WindowBuilder Pro and Abt Parts. Choose whichever one works best for your workflow.

Advanced Code Editor

A code editor for true polyglots supporting code highlighting in 25+ languages including C, C++, Python, JavaScript, Swift, Go, Rust, etc. with fully customizable color theming and linting.

Packager

VAST's packager creates runtime images composed of only the necessary classes which results in a stripped down runtime image that can be less than 1MB.

Dependency Analysis Tools

Detect dependencies within methods and classes while you're coding, and help organize your system to define the smallest usable parts when packaging for small runtime deployment.

Look and Feel

Hi DPI and Native Widgets

Hi DPI support in Windows-based environments provides crisp graphics on modern device screens, while native widgets provide a familiar look-and-feel for Windows and Linux without the need to make platform dependent code.

Emulated Widgets

Most needs can be satisfied with native widgets, but emulated widgets help fill in the gaps and allow you to completely take control of the look and feel of your user interface.

Additional Resources

Documentation

Data sheet

Readme