By completing the examples in this book, you have created the user interface for three applications: a Calculator, a To-Do List and an Investment application. The first example relied on the written Smalltalk code; the last two were based on the visual programming paradigm. You learned how to use the Composition Editor to lay out user interfaces, make connections between parts and other connections, create reusable form parts for use in multiple windows, and include multiple windows in an application.

If your interest is to learn more about coding in Smalltalk, your next step is to create the sample applications in the Smalltalk User Guide. You will learn how to create classes, write methods and organize and re-organize classes into applications. You will be introduced to Smalltalk’s powerful live debugger and object inspectors which allow you to locate and eliminate coding mistakes as well as the rudiments of packaging your application into a reduced runtime image.

If you are excited about the visual programming paradigm, your next step is to work your way through the examples in the Visual Programming User Guide. This book explains, in detail, how to use the database functions, external functions, and additional features of VA Smalltalk. You learn how to use scripts and the Script Editor to extend your applications and how to create your own parts and use the Public Interface Editor.

The Visual Parts Reference provides detailed information about the parts on the parts palette, including a complete listing of their properties, attributes, events, actions, and settings.

The Smalltalk User Guide provides a great deal of information about the tools for programming in VA Smalltalk. You will find many enhancements to the tools in the VA Assist Pro User Guide. The most recent of which , the Scintilla-based enhanced text editor streamlines the process of programming as you write with code completion and many other features, accelerating the process of writing code and diminishing the errors.

The on-line help systems provided with VA Smalltalk are easy to use. A Help pull-down menu or push button is available from nearly every window in the product. You can also access the helps from anywhere in the HTML information by selecting the Help link on the documentation banner. Once you have opened the help facility, you can use the search facilities to help you locate information quickly. Hypertext links within the help panels enable you to find information about the windows, fields and tasks quickly.

The following help facilities are available with VA Smalltalk: