Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!apple.com!rmh
From: rmh@apple.com (Rick Holzgrafe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: What's the best prototyping tool?
Message-ID: <7668@goofy.Apple.COM>
Date: 12 Apr 90 18:53:08 GMT
Sender: usenet@Apple.COM
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
Lines: 28
References:<1990Apr11.010338.23342@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> <10804@netcom.UUCP> <11537@zodiac.ADS.COM>

I often use HyperCard for my prototyping. It has drawbacks of course: it 
doesn't write any code for you, it doesn't usually look *exactly* like 
what you'll eventually build, it doesn't respond as quickly as the real 
thing will to user input, you're limited to the small window size, and a 
number of standard Mac effects are not directly available (pop-up menus, 
selection from a scrolling list, etc.).

However - mostly these don't bother me too much. The effects that aren't 
"directly" available can be faked without too much effort, once you're 
familiar with HyperTalk and have worked up a bag of tricks to reach into. 
And while it's slow and may not look exactly like the real thing, that can 
be lived with. For me the big wins are, one, that it looks *enough* like 
the real thing for me to see whether a layout is too crowded, a list too 
short, or a group of controls in need of some unifying graphics; two, I 
can make the buttons and whatnot "really work", enough to play with the 
interface and check its "feel"; and three, it's incredibly trivial to 
re-arrange things to try different layouts. Usually I'll do several, using 
"Copy Card" to duplicate the first successful one and making incremental 
changes to the copies.

Not perfect, but useful.

==========================================================================
Rick Holzgrafe              |    {sun,voder,nsc,mtxinu,dual}!apple!rmh
Software Engineer           | AppleLink HOLZGRAFE1          rmh@apple.com
Apple Computer, Inc.        |  "All opinions expressed are mine, and do
20525 Mariani Ave. MS: 77-A |    not necessarily represent those of my
Cupertino, CA 95014         |        employer, Apple Computer Inc."