I assume here you mean that Smalltalk emphasises on the existence of the IDE and the close integration of the IDE with the language. I will say yes you are correct.
In other languages the IDE is simply not there, so the language cannot rely on it the same way Smalltalk relies on its own IDE. But then it also depends. Smalltalk and Pharo are dynamic languages but so are Python , Ruby, Javascript and much more. Even static type languages have integrated some type of dynamism. So the differnces are not as massive as you may assume. For example Ruby is actually very close to Smalltalk.�� So language wise Smalltalk does not really offer anything out of the ordinary.��
But yes the close integration with the IDE and live coding itself set Pharo and Smalltalk apart from all other languages.
Now if you imply that you need to understand many methods in Pharo because the methods are small, generally that is not the case. As a matter of fact Pharo is quite small system, Python, Java , Ruby , Javascript they come with tons more libraries and code. But you dont need to understand all these things. You learn as much you need to move to the next step, as much you need to write the next line of code. At least that is how I work.��
So dont try to figure out Pharo structure just yet, start with very small tasks, very simple problems , concetrate only on one line of code and then go back to learning as much you need to code the next line and continue in this loop.�� Dont waste your time with reading chapters or prining out code and tying to understand diagrams and complex structures. Trust me its a waste of time, because in a month you will forget all that.
This is not how our brain works.
The brain wants small chunks, small things to learn, one step of time and always code. Dont stop coding. Practice is everything.��
So yes dont care about learning many functions, stick to only a few of them, do small tasks and you will be fine. Pharo is easy to learn anyway.��