Oh, and another reason is that there are various applications with good AppleScript integration, notable the Finder. For example, you can create "Folder actions", which are scripts that are automatically executed when you open a folder, or drag something into it etc.
One more thing I should note is that the underlying system (OSA) is quite flexible. In particular, an applications "dictionary" (which contains a description of all objects reachable via IPC and their properties etc) is fairly language-agnostic. It's for example probably possible to write a perl OSA-plugin, which would allow the user to use the Script Editor to write an run perl scripts to control applications via AppleEvents. In fact, if the plugin has handlers for converting AEs to script, the user can "record" scripts. (the system intercepts AEs caused by manual user actions, and translates them into script. pretty cool)
AppleScript is a scripting language layered on top of AppleEvents, which is basically an object-oriented IPC system. This means that if an application properly supports appleevents, then you can fully control an application via applescript, rather than programatically frob the UI.
For example, it's valid to say:
tell application "Finder" to duplicate the selection to folder "Foo" of home
if you run this, it'll copy whatever you have selected in the Finder to ~/Foo
The downside is that you have to rely on the developer of the application you want to control to have created the proper hooks.
"Remember" forth? you make it sound like it's a deceased language. Forth is still very much in use actively, and used for new applications. It's mainly popular in embedded systems. (for example, every modern Mac has a complete Forth system inside: Open Firmware)
Yea, but the idea of searching for ET is more appealing to people than cracking RC5 keys of solving the protein folding problem.
It's just the idea that matter, searching for little green men is something people can imagine, while cryptographic keys or proteins is not "close" enough to the people, if you know what I mean..
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Oh, and another reason is that there are various applications with good AppleScript integration, notable the Finder. For example, you can create "Folder actions", which are scripts that are automatically executed when you open a folder, or drag something into it etc.
One more thing I should note is that the underlying system (OSA) is quite flexible. In particular, an applications "dictionary" (which contains a description of all objects reachable via IPC and their properties etc) is fairly language-agnostic. It's for example probably possible to write a perl OSA-plugin, which would allow the user to use the Script Editor to write an run perl scripts to control applications via AppleEvents. In fact, if the plugin has handlers for converting AEs to script, the user can "record" scripts. (the system intercepts AEs caused by manual user actions, and translates them into script. pretty cool)
So there's more to AppleScript than meets the eye. See also Inside Macintosh: InterApplication Communication and other AE/AS/OSA related docs.
For example, it's valid to say:
if you run this, it'll copy whatever you have selected in the Finder to ~/Foo
The downside is that you have to rely on the developer of the application you want to control to have created the proper hooks.
Eh, yup :-)
I'm not really on HL anymore though.. things kinda went downhill with it after Jade died. You can find me on EFnet though if you want.
Damn, I don't see any way to leave you a msg other than posting a comment.. I hope I don't get modded offtopic for this..
Console games? You mean like this and this ? :-D
Oh, in case anyone wants to see what it looks like (since it's not easy to find a decent piece of hand-written PS in the wild):
http://www.liacs.nl/~mavduin/mod1.ps
For some boring stats course we had a programming assignment "in a programming language of your choice".... big mistake
:-)
since it was basically a simple statistical experiment + graphical output, I wrote it in PostScript.
Kinda cool, it was a report with the statistical experiments embedded, so if you printed it twice, all the graphs were different
>Anybody remember FORTH?
:-)
"Remember" forth? you make it sound like it's a deceased language. Forth is still very much in use actively, and used for new applications. It's mainly popular in embedded systems. (for example, every modern Mac has a complete Forth system inside: Open Firmware)
May the Forth be with you!
Would reading the page really have taken that long?
http://www.apple.com/ipod/specs.html
32 MB solid state memory to prevent skipping.
- xmath
Here's a short one that has Hello World the right way:
:-)
r:#,_q#:"Hello world!"+55
(wrote it myself
-xmath
Yea, but the idea of searching for ET is more appealing to people than cracking RC5 keys of solving the protein folding problem.
It's just the idea that matter, searching for little green men is something people can imagine, while cryptographic keys or proteins is not "close" enough to the people, if you know what I mean..
- xmath