First Surgery | Lambda Smalltalk

Installation

Download from the Downloads page. Unzip anywhere and add to PATH.

Your First Surgery

Create find_todos.st:

"Extract all TODO comments from source code"
| grammar source matches |

grammar := Grammar from: '
    todo: "TODO" /[^\n]*/
    %ignore /./
'.

source := File read: 'target.js'.
matches := Grammar findAll: grammar in: source.

matches do: [:m |
    (m at: 'text') printNl.
].

Run it:

lambda-st run find_todos.st

You just performed code surgery. No regex wrestling, no AST libraries - just declare the pattern and extract.

VSCode Extension

Full IDE support for serious work:

Syntax highlighting - TextMate grammar
Language Server (LSP) - Diagnostics, hover info
Debugger (DAP) - Breakpoints, step execution, variable inspection

Setup

Download lambda-smalltalk-x.x.x.vsix from Downloads
VSCode: Extensions → "..." → "Install from VSIX..."
Select the .vsix file

The extension auto-detects lambda-st-lsp and lambda-st-dap in your workspace or PATH.

Debugging

Open a .st file
Click line gutter to set breakpoints
F5 to start debugging
Step through, inspect variables, evaluate expressions

Library and Plugin Search Paths

When you use Module import: or Plugin load:, Lambda Smalltalk searches these locations in order:

Priority	Path	Description
1	Current directory	`./lib/Text/Text.st`
2	Executable directory	Where `lambda-st` is installed
3	`LAMBDA_ST_LIB_PATH`	Custom library paths
4	`LAMBDA_ST_PLUGIN_PATH`	Custom plugin paths

Environment variables use ; as separator on Windows, : on Unix.

Example: If you install Lambda Smalltalk to C:\lambda-st\, the bundled libraries at C:\lambda-st\lib\ are automatically found.

Module import: 'Text'.        "Loads lib/Text/Text.st"
Plugin load: 'excel_plugin'.  "Loads plugins/excel_plugin.dll"

Next Steps

Code Surgery - The main event
API Reference - All built-in classes