taylorj@byuvax.bitnet (09/08/88)
What with the recent spurt of new HyperCard references, tutorials, introductions, etc., I'm trying to find out what's useful, what's ok, and what's trash. Could those of you familiar with any of these new books please post opinions or recommendataions? (Or you can e-mail directly to me, as I plan on posting some sort of summary.) Thanks. Jim Taylor Microcomputer Support for Curriculum, Brigham Young University taylorj@byuvax.bitnet
hsd@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Harry S. Delugach) (09/22/88)
In article <243taylorj@byuvax.bitnet> taylorj@byuvax.bitnet writes: > >What with the recent spurt of new HyperCard references, tutorials, >introductions, etc., I'm trying to find out what's useful, what's ok, and >what's trash. Could those of you familiar with any of these new books please >post opinions or recommendataions? "Concise Guide to HyperTalk", by Barry Shell (MIS Press) was the cheapest book I could find on HyperTalk (about $12). For someone just starting out on HyperCard, this is a good summary and reference, but it gives away very few secrets, and doesn't have much practical advice. It has approx. one page per command/property/function and only slightly enhances the info found in the Help Stack which we all got for free with HC. If you knew nothing about HC, and very little about programming, this might be a good book to start with, but you'd quickly outgrow it. -- Harry S. Delugach University of Virginia, Dept. of Computer Science INTERNET: hsd@cs.virginia.edu BITNET: hsd2x@virginia UUCP: ..!uunet!virginia!uvacs!hsd CompuServe: 72727,2363
dan@Apple.COM (Dan Allen) (09/22/88)
Many individuals have recently been requesting sources of information about HyperCard, HyperTalk, XCMDs, etc. There is a rash of bad books out on the market, as well as a few good ones. The following capsule comments are strictly the personal opinions of one individual who just happens to work at Apple: all lawyers and paranoid engineers need not read any further, as my very opinionated remarks are strictly my own and do not in any way reflect Apple's endorsement or non-endorsement of any of the books mentioned. We live in a very sad time when I have to put in such a disclaimer due to the many lawyers that love to make men offenders because of a word. If anyone wants to learn more about HyperCard after reading the supplied owner's manual, let them begin with "HyperCard Script Language Guide: The HyperTalk Language", co-published by Addison-Wesley and Apple as part of the Apple Technical library. It contains information about HC 1.2 and is probably the most accurate book currently in print about the HyperTalk language. It is hardback, has a price of $22.95, and an ISBN number of 0-201-17632-7 for those collecting ISBN numbers. Danny Goodman has two books on HyperCard and HyperTalk, both published by Bantam Books. They are quite good and are filled with lots of examples, although they are a bit weighty. That is pretty much it for the books on my personal recommended list. There are a bunch of other books out, but few have any substance. Many are retellings of the owner's manual, but they are not even as good. Some of the books have glaring errors, so buyer beware! I am reasonably in touch with the current bunch of books available, but there could be others which are great, but I am just not aware of them. For those that are quick to point out that I worked on the Apple book I will simply say, Yes, I helped check it for accuracy and I wrote several of the appendicies, but I do not in any way get a dime for the work that I did on the book, other than my standard Apple salary. The main writer of the book spent far more time than I did and also receives no mention anywhere in the text. I recommend the Apple book strictly because it is the most accurate book SO FAR published about the HyperTalk language. In the future there may be other books that are better, in fact, there will almost certainly be better books published on HyperTalk, but they are months away. The best way to learn about HyperTalk is to use it and the help stack and to explore existing stacks. Dan Allen Software Explorer HyperCard Team Apple Computer
sac@well.UUCP (Steve Cisler) (09/28/88)
Send your name and address to Apple Library Users Group 10381 Bandley Drive, MS 8C, Cupertino, CA 95014. Ask for the HyperCard bibliography and mention that you saw this on Usenet (or Bitnet). It is not annotated or critical. I like Tay Vaughn's new book on HyperCard (and programming), from Cue I think. Well done. ..