Re: AppleScript / Perl comparison
Re: AppleScript / Perl comparison
- Subject: Re: AppleScript / Perl comparison
- From: Doug McNutt <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 07:00:57 -0600
At 12:39 +0100 5/24/04, James Partridge wrote, and I trimmed:
>
If I had to justify learning AppleScript as opposed to, say, Perl, what sort of arguments would list members suggest I use?
Graphically controlled applications in the Macintosh OS are pretty much forced into external communication and control via the open scripting architecture (OSA) provided by Apple.
Documentation is provided by applications is in the form of "dictionaries" which use the language of AppleScript. unless you want to pay someone to translate it. The underlying codes of OSA and high level events are almost impossible to discover. Frontier, Smile, Java are options that I'm not qualified to discuss. (And I'm sure some would include AppleScript in that list.)
So. . . You need to study AppleScript just to read the documentation even if you only use OSA through calls from perl, a shell, or something you write yourself.
By all means learn perl, or php, or python and learn a shell of your choice. Learn C or another gnu compiler. But be advised that what you learn there may well hinder you in the world of AppleScript. A simple AppleScript wrapper to a shell script makes a drag and drop application.
--
Applescript syntax is like English spelling:
Roughly, but not thoroughly, thought through.
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