Re: What makes appleScript so easy
Re: What makes appleScript so easy
- Subject: Re: What makes appleScript so easy
- From: "Stockly, Ed" <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:55:21 -0800
- Thread-topic: What makes appleScript so easy
>>>This isn't a snipe at you so please don't take it that way.
No problem and please don't take my disagreement with your comments that way
either.
>>>Applescript was originally (and still is) designed as a "user friendly" API
to inter-application communication. It was not designed as a text, graphics,
sound, etc. manipulator in and of itself.
I'm not sure that's exactly the case, but it may be an issue of semantics.
AppleScript was designed over a period of several years by a diverse and
changing group of people, and it continues to evolve. Plus, the original
design, nearly 20 years ago, is barely recognizable today, and I'm not sure
that's even relevant.
Yes, Inter-application communication was the key part of the design from the
beginning, and still is the most important aspect of the technology. At some
point AppleScript was also conceived and designed as a replacement for
HyperCard, which includes manipulation of text, graphics, sounds, etc. and
those were built into scripting additions and various elements of system
software early on (by early I mean before its initial release). In addition,
it's design was enhanced when the open scripting architecture was developed
to allow for third party scripting solutions (Frontier).
By the time AppleScript was released it was already doing much more than
"originally designed." Luckily things like the "original design" and "what
it was intended to do" aren't carved in stone. Apple is, of course, free to
think different.
>>>That it can do much of this is due to external add-ons in the form of
applications and scripting additions.
That's true, but that also includes applications and scripting additions
from Apple.
>>>The whole point of Applescript is to have the applications/additions do the
heavy lifting in those areas and that means that third party externals are
pretty much it's entire reason for being!
I'm not sure what you're saying here. The "point of appleScript" and it's
"entire reason for being" are probably not the best phases to use. It's
reason for being probably has more to do with selling hardware and it's
point is probably related to making the platform more attractive to
customers and developers. (And to an extent, that worked.)
Its strategy was to leverage third party applications and it relied on
developers to do that by implementing Apple Events and AppleScript
technologies in their products.
>>>No matter how hard you beat a plow horse it isn't going to outrun a
thoroughbred race horse.
Unless, of course, you beat the race horse really really hard, but I take
your point.
My point is that most third party scripting additions don't compare to the
quality of scripting tools from Apple.
Just a comparison of the language and commands and the organization of most
of Apple's appleScript dictionaries and those of most (not all) third party
tool developers, reveals a deeper level of sophistication and understanding
of the technology and (more importantly) the user.
>>>A lot of the problems we see on this list are because someone expects
Applescript to do something it was never intended to do.
Many of the best things about AppleScript is that it can do so many things
that it wasn't originally intended to do.
>>>If you expect Applescript to do what it's designed to do then you will
realize the place to complain about it's lack of something is the third party
vendors, this includes Apple when it's apps aren't scriptable or have bugs.
First, I see design as fluid, and I expect Apple to continue to design more
power into appleScript. I continue to expect AppleScript to do much more
than it was originally designed to do.
Second, the reality is that there are many aspects of the scripting language
and technology that users expect to be built in, things that go beyond the
basics, but are common enough that any serious scripter will need them
(sorting and text manipulations, to name but two.)
Third, in many areas apple has gone beyond the original design in providing
scripters useful and powerful tools (they never get enough recognition for
that IMHO, I'm thinking of the scriptable database, built into the system,
image handling and scripting GUI, none of which were part of the original
design, all were things third-party developers could have done and all now
part of the system. (Come to think of it, I'm not sure a third party
developer could have done GUI Scripting, but that actually reinforces what
I'm saying.)
By the way, I do complain to third party vendors and I let those who don't
develop their apps with decent appleScript implementations know that they
are losing my business, which often includes sales that go beyond my
department and my company.
But, I wasn't complaining here. I was making a fairly thoughtful response to
a request for feedback on what users want from AppleScript.
I kind of wish more users had spoken up.
ES
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