Re: AppleScript seems to be Unique...
Re: AppleScript seems to be Unique...
- Subject: Re: AppleScript seems to be Unique...
- From: Jon Pugh <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2001 14:12:53 -0700
At 2:47 PM +0200 8/2/2001, Alexander Schrieken wrote:
>
Although Windows
>
offers similar, but less userfriendly, tools the
>
users/developers generally don't use them as
>
intensely as is the case on the Mac platform.
This may not be technically correct.
Windows users get more choice when it comes to scripting languages. Since there is no "official" scripting system included in the OS, there are a bunch of third party scripting systems. Each of these is largely unconnected to the others, who are "playing in their own sandboxes" as it were.
Examples of scripting systems available on Windows:
Visual Basic
PHP
Python
Frontier
Perl
DOS shell
Unix shells
and more...
Where AppleScript shines is in its accessibility and compatibility. Only now has Windows attempted to copy the Open Scripting Architecture (OSA) as the Windows Scripting Host (WSH). The OSA layer allows multiple scripting systems to be treated the same by the system, enabling any new scripting system to create standard script files, applets and droplets largely indistinguishable from AppleScript's.
However, there *are* large communities built up around these various Windows tools, some of which also work on Macintosh and Unix. Thus, it is not accurate to say that the Windows tools are not as utilized. It is more accurate to say that Windows scripters tend to be professional scripters, while Macintosh scripters are often casual users.
Being forced to purchase an expensive package to do scripting tends to make only serious people use it. Unlike AppleScript, where us silly people can play too. ;)_
Jon