In an effort to outfit Squeak with a modern rendering backend with VR support, we devised an architecture synchronizing code describing a scene tree in Squeak with the Godot game engine.

We present a technical overview of an interesting mix of technologies to achieve that: the programming environment Squeak/Smalltalk, the game engine Godot, and an implementation of ReactJS in Squeak.

We talk about leveraging Squeak’s excellent live programming facilities coupled with the ergonomics of ReactJS for decoratively describing (UI) trees to allow for a rapid development feedback loop.

We also look at some design constraints we had to balance, choices made, and lessons learned when integrating Squeak’s and Godot’s programming models via TCP.