brownh@unioncs.UUCP (H. Brown) (03/01/88)
I am supposed to write a short paper for a Programming Languages class about HyperTalk. Anyone have any pointers to info about HyperTalk as a language? I know how to use it but I need some more theoretical stuff, ie. how are the following implemented: variable storage, subprogram calling, symbol tables, etc... I've read Danny Goodman(?)'s book. Thanks very much in advance. Alex Brown !uunet!steinmetz!unioncs!brownh e_brownh@union.bitnet
alibaba@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (73539000) (03/01/88)
Very few people can answer your question. Those that can, are not permitted to do so. Dan Winkler wrote HyperTalk, and can be found here frequently. As far as answering your question, there are two answers: 1) HyperTalk is a religion, not a programming language. I have seen the light!! 2) HyperTalk treats all variables as strings, and uses clever algorithms to use the most efficient storage in memory, picking Boolean, short, long, and such as it sees fit. The whole thing is interpreted, and the language can be extended thru XCMDs and XFCNs. All in all, HyperTalk is a wonder of language design, and the rumor goes that Dan surprised his old Harvard professors with his abilities, after they always said, "It can't be done." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Alexander M. Rosenberg ~ INTERNET: alibaba@ucscb.ucsc.edu ~ Yoyodyne ~ ~ Crown College, UCSC ~ UUCP:...!ucbvax!ucscc!ucscb!alibaba~ Propulsion ~ ~ Santa Cruz, CA 95064 ~ BITNET:alibaba%ucscb@ucscc.BITNET ~ Systems ~ ~ (408) 426-8869 ~ Disclaimer: Nobody is my employer ~ :-) ~ ~ ~ so nobody cares what I say. ~ ~