• Open Menu Close Menu
  • Apple
  • Shopping Bag
  • Apple
  • Mac
  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • Watch
  • TV
  • Music
  • Support
  • Search apple.com
  • Shopping Bag

Lists

Open Menu Close Menu
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Lists hosted on this site
  • Email the Postmaster
  • Tips for posting to public mailing lists
Re: First-class procedures in AS
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: First-class procedures in AS


  • Subject: Re: First-class procedures in AS
  • From: Christopher Nebel <email@hidden>
  • Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:36:41 -0800

On Dec 17, 2003, at 6:42 PM, Jim Witte wrote:

Does Applescript allow you to compile procedures at runtime and treat them as first-class objects? I thought an interesting (if seemingly useless, except perhaps as a CS independent study) project would be to try to implement a subset of Scheme in AppleScript.

Some. Not entirely. Handlers (AppleScript's name for procedures/functions) are objects, but there isn't much you can do with them -- you can pass them around, call them, and assign them to properties of scripts (people sometimes do this by accident!). You can compile scripts from source using "run script", but there isn't any way to tear apart an existing handler like there is in Lisp -- code is not treated as data in that respect.

You might find it interesting to read M. Neuberg's new book, "AppleScript: The Definitive Guide." He's an old Lisp-head himself, and assuming it didn't get ripped out in final edits [1], there's some material covered under script objects about how to exploit handlers-as-objects, and how to use script objects to create closure-like effects.


--Chris Nebel
AppleScript Engineering

[1] I helped review AStDG, but haven't seen a final copy.
_______________________________________________
applescript-users mailing list | email@hidden
Help/Unsubscribe/Archives: http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/applescript-users
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.

References: 
 >First-class procedures in AS (From: Jim Witte <email@hidden>)

  • Prev by Date: Re: Filter reference form question
  • Next by Date: Re: How to prevent Classic from starting?
  • Previous by thread: Re: First-class procedures in AS
  • Next by thread: Re: First-class procedures in AS
  • Index(es):
    • Date
    • Thread