Re: [ANN] New comprehensive AppleScript book
Re: [ANN] New comprehensive AppleScript book
- Subject: Re: [ANN] New comprehensive AppleScript book
- From: Paul Berkowitz <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 00:41:43 -0800
Just to add that I never meant to imply that Hanaan's book is only for
beginners - I did say " fully up to speed, from start to finish". "Finish"
gets you quite far, after all ;-) It does deal with many intermediate and
advanced topics, as far as I can see from a quick perusal. I'll be looking
into some of those myself. Instead of referring to it as "a tutorial", you
might say that it contains hundreds of tutorials, and is encyclopedic in
scope. As someone else remarked, its tone is calm and measured, and its
detail is absolutely thorough. It is a welcome addition to the AppleScript
library.
--
Paul Berkowitz
> From: Hanaan Rosenthal <email@hidden>
> Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 16:59:15 -0500
> To: AppleScript Users <email@hidden>
> Subject: Re: [ANN] New comprehensive AppleScript book
>
> Hello All,
>
> Thank you for looking through and discussing my book!
> Here are my 2 cents:
> The idea I had when starting, and which kept me going through the
> writing process, was to create a book that looks at AppleScript from
> the scripter's perspective. That meant a few things:
> First, I organized the book based on function, I didn't simply take the
> original language guide and expand on it. The book is organized by
> subject such as "Working with text" or "Working with files". The user
> doesn't want to look for file issues in five different chapters.
> It also meant that I try to exhaust every subject to the best of my
> ability. When reading computer books, I sometimes find myself reading a
> good story, but with no conclusion. I wanted to get as much depth, as
> many scenarios and as much advice as possible, to truly help someone
> who was trying to achieve a task in AppleScript. I imagined a really
> demanding scripter sitting in front of me and keeping on asking
> questions, driving me nuts at times, but I had to answer every question
> and plug all the holes.
> I also wanted to include advanced topics, which I did, such as script
> objects, creating RTF files, creating PDFs with SMILE, automating
> databases, and more. This is not only the beginner tutorial Paul
> suggests it is.
>
> I believe that no matter what subject you are involved in, your
> knowledge of the subject should be broader than what you actually need
> to know in order to get your work done. For instance, if you are a
> gardener, you would be a better gardener if you knew a bit about
> biology even if all you do is water the plants. This is true in
> AppleScript, but it also has a limit. If I tried to get as deep and
> technical into the language as Matt did with his book, I would have
> lost a lot of the connection with the reader that I wanted to have, and
> ended up with an even heavier book :-).
>
> Don't get me wrong, I own the book Matt wrote and to which Paul
> Berkowitz did the technical reviewing, and I think it is phenomenal, I
> would (and have) personally recommend it to anyone.
> Most importantly, the question "if you could have only one book"
> doesn't really apply here, since you don't: I think that no
> AppleScripter's bookshelf is complete without BOTH these books.
>
> Hanaan
>
> On Nov 17, 2004, at 2:49 PM, Paul Berkowitz wrote:
>
>> On 11/17/04 11:38 AM, "Rick Gordon" <email@hidden> wrote:
>>
>>> S what book would you suggest for "high-concept" theory? As a person
>>> with some
>>> moderate background in Classic AppleScript and wanting to update my
>>> references
>>> to current standards and approaches, I'm considering buying Hanaan's
>>> book,
>>> along with "Absolute AppleScript Studio
>>> "<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1593270372/
>>> ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/
>>> 102-8327400-7177760?v=glance&s=books&st=*>.
>>>
>>> What else might I consider, and what would cover the "high-concept"
>>> theory
>>> aspect?
>>
>> What's a "high-concept" theory?
>>
>> I just got Hanaan's book myself: it looks like a thorough tutorial,
>> well-written to get beginners fully up to speed, from start to finish.
>>
>> For an outstanding book that deals in depth with the syntax of the
>> AppleScript language (maybe that's what you mean?), particularly if
>> you have
>> any background in AppleScript and/or other programming languages, get
>> AppleScript: The Definitive Guide by Matt Neuburg (published by
>> O'Reilly).
>> It's a wonderful book.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Paul Berkowitz
>>
>>
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> --
> Hanaan Rosenthal * Custom Flow Solutions
> MEDIA AUTOMATION CONSULTING
> 401-487-2957 * email@hidden
> * www.customflowsolutions.com *
>
> be successful... ...work less.
>
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