Exactly because of that in Visual Age for C++ v4 (the version is relevant), you could have a Smalltalk like experience for C++, similar to Energize C++, something that has taken decades to get back and we aren't there yet, even with VC++ hot reload and Live++.

Image based source control has been a solved problem for Smalltalk since the 1990's.

It is also a good example of how the "Python is too dynamic for a JIT" reasoning doesn't play that well, as it surely isn't more dynamic than Smalltalk, SELF and Lisp images and development environments.

> all your code in an opaque "repository"

Without the scare quotes we'd call that a database.

"Product Revew, Object Technology's ENVY Developer"

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mastering_ENVY_Develope...

Mastering ENVY/Developer"

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mastering_ENVY_Develope...

> And a colleague of mine told me there are no source code files …

And that has always been not true !

    $ cat fact.st
    Stdio stdout 
        nextPutAll: 100 factorial printString; 
        nextPut: Character lf.!
    SmalltalkImage current snapshot: false andQuit: true!

    $ bin/pharo --headless Pharo10-SNAPSHOT-64bit-502addc.image fact.st
    93326215443944152681699238856266700490715968264381621468592963895217599993229915608941463976156518286253697920827223758251185210916864000000000000000000000000

Google

    smalltalk sources file