can you deploy applications written in smalltalk/squeak/pharo like a Java app?

Question

Recently I've been exploring the world of smalltalk dialects and am very impressed (from here on in understand that when I write 'smalltalk' I'm referencing any of the modern smalltalk dialects - squeak/pharo/etc). I like the small footprint of the VM and the language itself.

As grad student and often need to write tools that support my research. Typically I use Java because I can easily deploy a tool to my colleagues without worrying too much about what their computer setup is or how tech savvy they are. It's pretty easy to whip up a GUI interface and all the end user has to do is double click on an executable JAR and they are gtg. The problem is that Java has all sorts of security issues and doesn't always run in the same way on every platform. Smalltalk, therefore, is starting to look pretty attractive.

I know that it's possible to create a smalltalk program that fires up with one double click of an icon. What I'm wondering about is whether or not I can create a sandboxed smalltalk world such that the only thing the user sees and is able to interact with is my application. I don't want them to see any aspect of the smalltalk world. This way, users can't accidentally muck things up or get confused because they have access to a plethora of options that aren't directly relevant to use of the program. Is this possible, and if so, how do I do it?

Answer 1

Apologies - I should've done a better job of RTFM prior to posting this question. It is apparently possible to do this via Lockdown:

http://map.squeak.org/sm/packagebyname/lockdown

Also helpful:

http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/3563

Answer 2

In Pharo, you can send openWorldWithSpec to your UI so that it is full screen. An example of this is the Pharo Launcher: https://ci.inria.fr/pharo-contribution/job/PharoLauncher. When you launch this image, you can't access the rest of Pharo (at least, not easily).