| Paradigm(s) | Application framework |
|---|---|
| Appeared in | 1991 |
| Influenced by | Smalltalk, Object-oriented programming |
| Influenced | Java EE |
GemStone is a proprietary application framework that was first available for Smalltalk as an object database.
GemStone Systems was founded in 1982 as Servio Logic, and then became GemStone Systems, Inc in 1995. GemStone developed its first prototype in 1982, and shipped its first product in 1986. The engineering group resides in Beaverton, Oregon. Three of the original co-founding engineers, Bob Bretl, Allen Otis and Monty Williams, have been with the company since its inception.
GemStone's owners pioneered implementing distributed computing in business systems. Many information system features now associated with Java EE were implemented earlier in GemStone. GemStone and VisualWave were an early web application server platform (VisualWave and VisualWorks are now owned by Cincom.) GemStone played an important sponsorship role in the Smalltalk Industry Council at the time when IBM was backing VisualAge Smalltalk (VA is now at Instantiations). After a major transition, GemStone for Smalltalk continues as "GemStone/S" and various C++ and Java products for scalable, multi-tier distributed systems. GemStone Systems, Inc. now develops and markets GemFire, which is notable for CEP (complex event processing), Event Stream Processing, data virtualization and distributed caching.
Gemstone builds on the Smalltalk programming language. Although Gemstone isn't often mentioned in print, GemStone systems serve as mission-critical applications[1] even though many computing industry business publications focus attention on other ecosystems and languages, such as Java or C# for Microsoft .NET for new development. GemStone frameworks still see some interest for web services and service-oriented architectures.
A recent revival of interest in Smalltalk has occurred as a result of its use to generate Javascript for e-commerce web pages or in web application frameworks such as the Seaside web framework. Systems based on object databases are not as common as those based on ORM or Object-relational mapping frameworks such as TopLink or Hibernate. In the area of web application frameworks, JBoss and BEA Weblogic are somewhat analogous to GemStone.
On May 6, 2010, SpringSource, a division of VMware, announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire GemStone.[2]