I really need one
for this project.
I'm doing a very complicated decision tree/mass balance kind of thing (it figures out how to butcher cattle to produce different products based upon demand for various cuts). WIthout the ability to stop the program and inspect the stack during the tree traversal, I'd never figure out what's going on.
A single unit test involves very extensive calculations. I do a huge amount of logging and I still need to halt the system regularly to check its state to make sure that stuff is going on.
And of course, in Smalltalk, I do most of my coding in the debugger while the program runs.
Smalltalk is dangerous. It is a drug. My advice to you would be don't try it; it could ruin your life. Once you take the time to learn it (to REALLY learn it) you will see that there is nothing out there (yet) to touch it. Of course, like all drugs, how dangerous it is depends on your character. It may be that once you've got to this stage you'll find it difficult (if not impossible) to "go back" to other languages and, if you are forced to, you might become an embittered character constantly muttering ascerbic comments under your breath. Who knows, you may even have to quit the software industry altogether because nothing else lives up to your new expectations.
--AndyBower
