Cuis Smalltalk
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 3 smalltalk environments by recommenders
Free, small and readable Smalltalk environment that people find the easiest entry point into modern Smalltalk.
Free, small and readable Smalltalk environment that people find the easiest entry point into modern Smalltalk.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple and easy to understand
“It was easier to understand the libraries - for example I could read and understand the WebClient package in a couple of days and use it confidently.”
Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “Cuis: The Modern Smalltalk-80” “For me it was easier and quicker to get something done in Cuis than in any other Smalltalk”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Cuis: The Modern Smalltalk-80” “Cuis has rigorously simplified, so its much easier to explore & understand the system”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Cuis: The Modern Smalltalk-80” - Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Cuis: The Modern Smalltalk-80”
Fun and welcoming for learning
“It was a lot of fun and a very nice introduction to object-oriented thinking.”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “Pulsar at ESUG 2026 (new Smalltalk IDE)” “just banging on the same image is just ... fun, easy, enticing.”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Ruby and Its Neighbors: Smalltalk” “This feels cool and welcoming.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Cuis: The Modern Smalltalk-80” - Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Cuis: The Modern Smalltalk-80”
Vector graphics GUI
“as a more idiomatic solution that also looks much better due to it's vector graphic based rendering engine”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “Pharo 14” “EVERYTHING you see in cuis is hardware accelerated vector graphics, even the fonts.”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Squeak/Smalltalk 6.1 Release Notes” “its GUI is based on vector graphics”
Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Squeak/Smalltalk 6.1 Release Notes” Shared VM, simplified Morphic
“The shared VM is a nice advantage, especially if performance isn't the main tradeoff”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Cuis: The Modern Smalltalk-80” “In Cuis, Juan took morphic back to basics and updated it heavily.”
Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Squeak/Smalltalk 6.1 Release Notes”
Other smalltalk environments people recommend
The two most recommended other smalltalk environments, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squeak Smalltalk | 25 | 6 | 81% | 10 | 10 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Pharo | 21 | 11 | 66% | 9 | — | — |
| Cuis SmalltalkThis page | 11 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
15 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It was easier to understand the libraries - for example I could read and understand the WebClient package in a couple of days and use it confidently.”
“Cuis is the easiest entrypoint into modern Smalltalk.”
“I agree it looks great but think it's all software-rendered using the CPU.”
“The shared VM is a nice advantage, especially if performance isn't the main tradeoff”
“Cuis has rigorously simplified, so its much easier to explore & understand the system”
“For me it was easier and quicker to get something done in Cuis than in any other Smalltalk”
“A good experience all round.”
“This feels cool and welcoming.”
“as a more idiomatic solution that also looks much better due to it's vector graphic based rendering engine”
“It was a lot of fun and a very nice introduction to object-oriented thinking.”
“the nearest Smalltalk-80 like thing available”
“EVERYTHING you see in cuis is hardware accelerated vector graphics, even the fonts.”
“In Cuis, Juan took morphic back to basics and updated it heavily.”
“its GUI is based on vector graphics”
“just banging on the same image is just ... fun, easy, enticing.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.