KPURCELL@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK (05/31/90)
What books on Hypercard have people used to teach themselves or others about HyperCard? Do you have a favorite or one that should be avoided at all costs? Please consider the different types of user from naive to advanced scripter (wizards don't need books :-). If you have any commenets advice flames etc. Send the direct to me and I'll summarise them for the net. Even references to published reviews would be useful (include the page number if possible). Below I have commented on a few HC books I have read. Thanks, Kevin. ---------------------------- The initial list ------------------------------ To start things off, my favorites are: Hypercard Power by Carol Kaehler, Addison Wesley very good for naive users; well written; good intro to using HC with basic intro to scripting The Complete Hypercard Handbook by Danny Goodman, Bantam the standard book? comprehensive, clear, BIG(!), lots of tips, index of commands/functions etc Dr Dobbs Essential HyperTalk Handbook by Micheal Swaine, M&T Books inreesting intro to scripting, comprehensive index of commands etc, some stacks, still not made my mind up yet on whether it was worth the money. The Waite Group's Tricks of the HyperCard Masters, Waite Group Thick, lots of more advanced topics discussed, useful. I'm not at the wizard level so hard to comment, but I pick up a few useful tips. HyperCard Stack Design Guidelines by Apple, Addison Wesley excellent book, useful even for people that will never use HC, but just doing ordinary software development. Advice on stack building, design and cute techniques to make more beautiful stack (no scripting info). Very useful recommended reading list referencing topics such as writing, animation, typography, layout, charts, symbols and icons. Emphasises the different skills needed to build good HC stacks. ------------------------------ End of list --------------------------------- As you can see I have read (well, half read) quite a few books and this narrows down the range of what I should add to the list. I am particularly interested in good books from the smaller publishing houses. For example, Hypercard Scripting by Jeff Stodard, Walking Shadow Press and XCMDS for Hypercard by Gary Bond, MIS Press I guess the other thing to consider is the imminent appearence of HC 2.0 and how that will affect the books (especially the novice scripting books). So what do you think of the books I've already mentioned? What about the following, which I have not read: The Complete Hypercard Devloper's Handbook by Danny Goodman, Bantam Hypercard Script Language Guide by Apple, Addison Wesley Dan Winkler's Hypercard books (I forget their titles) The Waite Group HyperTalk Bible, Waite Group What about other worthwhile HC books you have read? And while were at it, what about the Supercard books: The Complete Supercard Handbook by Dan Gookin, Compute Books Inside SuperCard (title?) (author?) (publisher?) Hope to here from you soon. ==============| Don't bite my finger, look where it's pointing |=============== Kevin "fractal" Purcell | SURFACE SCIENCE CENTRE | These opinions are kpurcell@liverpool.ac.uk | Liverpool University | shareware. Send me $10 if (c) 1990 | Liverpool L69 3BX | you like them.