Comment #14 on issue 3436 by cesar.rabak: #copyFrom: is broken http://code.google.com/p/pharo/issues/detail?id=3436 If you want to clarify this issue, you'll need to have access to the minutes and meeting notes of NCTIS J20 which in the ANSI Standard for Smalltalk have put in "5.7.8.7 Message: copyFrom: start to: stop" the following Synopsis: "Answer a new collection containing all of the elements of the receiver between the indices start and stop inclusive. If stop < start, the result has a size of zero." What the OP is asking for IMO is for an extension of this where #copyFrom: would mean (OK, call it syntactic sugar if you want to) #copyFrom: start to: self size. The standard is old. What other Smalltalk implementations are doing? Dolphin Smalltalk implements #copyFrom: as above. ObjectStudio Smalltalk implements #copyFrom: as above. ST/X Smalltalk implements #copyFrom: as above. VW Smalltalk implements #copyFrom: as Squeak/Pharo. I've not access in this machine to other Smalltalks, if anyone could see what Instantiations, MT and any other Smalltalks do w.r.t. it would be instructive to complete the table above.