Re: compiler stupidity [was Re: Interesting... AppleScript X ??]
Re: compiler stupidity [was Re: Interesting... AppleScript X ??]
- Subject: Re: compiler stupidity [was Re: Interesting... AppleScript X ??]
- From: Michael Kelly <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 16:33:07 -0700
On Thu, Sep 26, 2002 at 06:42:55PM +0100, has wrote:
[big snip]
>
Honestly, with so many stupid syntactical caveats and gotchas, you have to
>
wonder who this language is designed for? People who enjoy the cryptic
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crossword section in The Times, perhaps. AppleScript is supposed to be
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SIMPLE.
>
>
My guess: the compiler authors most likely overreached themselves,
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underestimating the amount of smarts the compiler would need to handle such
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a malleable syntax, and the language designers maybe didn't consolidate the
>
underlying language structure as well as they could've [the excessive
>
distinction between method call and property reference]. I applaud them for
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their decision to tackle this area at all when they might've just welched
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and cooked up another simple-but-cryptic C-style syntax [light on the
>
machine, but hell on non-programmers], but I think there's a considerable
>
way to go before the language and its compiler live up to all their
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promises.
I rarely ever post on this list, but I've been lurking here for a while. (Those
with scary-good memory might remember that my last post also ragged on AS's
syntax...)
It's so nice to hear that I'm not the only one who has problems with AS's
syntax! I've been wondering if I'm just wired the wrong way to understand AS or
if it's as indecipherable to most people as it is to me. I've never had any
problems with C or C-based languages, but I've never been able to get my head
around AppleScript.
I sincerely hope this AS 2.0 or AS X helps matters. there are far, far too many
questions whose answers are "it's a bug/quirk in the language/compiler/editor"
for my liking.
A few random thoughts:
Since AS has a "dialect" feature, would it be entirely out of the question to
expect Apple to create a "C" dialect, _assuming the language is overhauled soon_?
(A C dialect with AS's current eccentricities would only create a language with
the syntax of C and the power, speed, and consistency of AS... not a good thing)
But a language with the conceptual simplicity of AS and the consistency and
compactness of C would be a beautiful thing, I think.
Am I the only one who notices Apple's Script Editor violates their own Aqua
interface guidelines? OK, the AppleScript Studio is better than the script
editor, but then why is the script editor packaged with OS X?
(Disclaimer: I've never seen the script editor in Jaguar -- I'm speaking only
for 10.1.5)
>
Cheers,
>
>
has
>
>
--
>
http://www.barple.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk -- The Little Page of AppleScripts
Not trying to rag on AppleScript, just trying to voice some frustration,
--
Michael
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