---
layout: index
title: Amber Smalltalk
---


<blockquote class="quip">
    The app is in Amber Smalltalk and the html is done with Silk. Silk is very exciting and makes web programming fun again. I am completely enthusiastic about it 🙂 !
    <cite>&#x2011;&#x2011;&nbsp;@c_haider, on making <a href="https://covidcrt.uber.space/">covidcrt.uber.space</a> website.</cite>
</blockquote>

<div class="box">
  
  <h2>Amber...</h2>

  <dl>
    <dt>So...What is it about again?</dt>
    <dd>
      <p>Amber is a language (derived from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smalltalk">Smalltalk</a>) and environment built for the web.</p>
With Amber, client-side web development finally gets the power and productivity that exists in other Smalltalk dialects.</p>
    </dd>

    <dt>Why should I care?</dt>
    <dd>
      <p>Having a true live & incremental development environment where you can build your application interactively in the browser is unbeatable.</p>
    </dd>

    <dt>Why a Smalltalk dialect?</dt>
    <dd>
      <p>Smalltalk stands head and shoulders above most other languages for clarity, conciseness, and human-friendliness.</p>
      <p>As a language, it is immensely clean and mature, both syntactically and semantically. It is a pure OO language, with objects all the way down.</p>
    </dd>

    <dt>But what about all the JS ecosystem?</dt>
    <dd>
      <p>Amber plays very well with the outer world. You can interact with JavaScript objects seamlessly, and even inspect them as any Amber object.</p>
      <p>Evaluating JavaScript object methods is transparent and makes using libraries a breeze.</p>
    </dd>

  </dl>

</div>

<blockquote class="quip">
  It's a 3D WebGL game engine that is very easy to get to work with Amber. Specifically though I am using its WebVR integration.  This is a pretty nice way to do VR development.  Being able to take the headset off, change a method, and then put the headset back on without having to restart is pretty nice.
  <cite>&#x2011;&#x2011;&nbsp;@ZenChess, on using babylon.js in Amber</cite>
</blockquote>

<div class="box">
    <h2 id="get-started">Getting started</h2>
    <div class="content">
        Follow the README in <a href="https://lolg.it/amber/amber">git</a>.
    </div>
</div>

<div class="box" id="getinvolved">
  <h2>Get involved!</h2>

  <h3>Meet the people behind Amber</h3>
  <ul>
    <li>Amber hackers can be found on the Rocket.chat instance here: <a href="https://chat.amber-lang.net/">https://chat.amber-lang.net</a>.</li>
    <li>Most of Amber discussion and help happens on the <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/amber-lang">Google Group</a>.</li>
  </ul>

  <h3>Contributing to the project</h3>
  <p>In a sharing mood? Contributions to Amber are very much welcome!</p>
  <ul>
    <li>The Amber source code is hosted on <a href="https://lolg.it/amber/amber">lolg.it</a>. You can fork the main repository and send pull requests.</li>
    <li>You can also submit issues on the <a href="https://lolg.it/amber/amber/issues">bug tracker</a>.</li>
  </ul>
</div>

<div class="box last">
  <h2 id="mentions">Mentions</h2>
    <p>
        Thanks for creating Amber:
        <a href="http://nicolas.petton.fr/">Nicolas Petton</a>.
    </p>
    <p>
        Thanks for supporting Amber:
        <a href="http://www.instantiations.com/"><img style="width: 9.3ex; height: 3.45ex" src="images/VA-Smalltalk-Logo-Hori-Trans.png"></a> &ndash;
        they reward open-source contributors a free license of VAST.
    </p>
    <p>
        Amber is developed mostly in
        <a href="https://brave.com/amb399"><img style="width: 10.9ex; height: 3.3ex" src="/brave-assets/Logos/Brave/PNG/primary/logotype/dark/brave-logotype-full-color.png"></a>,
        a privacy-oriented browser from JavaScript creator Brendan Eich, that blocks ads and trackers.
    </p>
</div>