Morphic

The user interface system introduced as an integrated part of the Self system, and later ported to Squeak.

The paradigm is that of direct-manipulation: "morph" means "form", and the general concept is that the object of manipulation is what is seen on the screen itself, regardless of whether that object is a decoration, a control, or some constraint on other visual objects. Morphic programmers have the option of either working with their interfaces programmatically or directly via visual controls for the other visual objects on the screen.

Self's first user interface was called Seity, which gave Morphic the concept that a program object represented on the screen should have exactly one representation, with consistent live updates and liveness in interaction, so that the user never had to use the concept of a "representation" to deal with their program's objects. The user might say: "What you see is What it is."

Squeak Swiki Morphic page
Self tutorial using Morphic

This page is linked from: Squeak