smolts: a pedagogical IDE for a teaching language (eighty-twenty news)

Two years ago, I created an IDE for a teaching language based on Shriram Krishnamurthi et al.'s work on teaching SMoL, the "Standard Model of Languages", as part of PLAI. The inspiration behind this project came from the outstanding work of Kuang-Chen Lu and Shriram in developing Stacker. My intention was to utilize this tool for teaching Programming Languages.

Though I haven't yet employed it in that capacity, I believe it's beneficial to inform others of its availability. The IDE allows users to write programs using an S-expression-based dialect of SMoL, and it enables stepping through the program's execution. It visually displays the current continuation, environment, and store as the program runs, while also annotating the program within the text editor to showcase variable and expression values.

Users can also step backward if they miss a detail while clicking quickly, and they can execute up to the cursor. The concept of in-browser git-based project management is intriguing and somewhat incomplete in its current state, but it's a promising vision. Despite several bugs related to Svelte state-management, I encourage users to try the IDE and provide feedback or suggestions through email or a federated social media platform.

The video demonstrating the system's functionality was recorded in July 2024, showcasing a slightly older version; however, the core operations remain the same as they are today.