Re: Nice Automator article on O'Reilly
Re: Nice Automator article on O'Reilly
- Subject: Re: Nice Automator article on O'Reilly
- From: David Marshall <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 6 May 2005 17:07:58 -0400
has wrote:
I think you both miss the point. AppleScript's syntax LOOKS much
friendlier. It's a brilliant marketing hook that's guaranteed to snare
the sort of GUI-lovin' newbies who'd never go near at a "real"
programming language in a million years. A way to get that first foot
in the door. You betcha secretaries are jumping to try it: it makes
programming look EASY.
I'd like to weigh in with the Permanent Dilettante's perspective here,
since I think an unusually high percentage of AppleScript scripters may
fall into this category. We're folks who are (hopefully) intelligent,
analytical, and drawn to the compact expression of logic that
programming as a whole embodies; but we lack the background, time,
and/or passion to master the _implementation_ of programs written in
"full-fledged" programming languages.
I greatly admire the syntactical efficiency of C, for example. Years
ago I was able to write an absurd little command-line program that took
as input an English word and returned its Pig Latin equivalent. (Try
THAT in AppleScript!) But my eyes began to glaze over at the notion of
header files, linking, compiling, etc. I just wanted to write little
programs and run them, not make a career of mastering steep learning
curves. (It cracks me up to read that Objective-C is a "simple"
language.)
In AppleScript, I can do just that: write a routine, compile it, and
debug it, all between dinner and bed time. I can do this because the
language is so limited in scope, and because the editor, compiler,
debugger and runner are conveniently provided in an IDW (Integrated
Development Window).
It's not the "English-likeness" that makes AppleScript friendly, AFAIC;
it's the "Limited-Paletteness."
- - - - -
Dave
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