Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!nstn.ns.ca!news.cs.indiana.edu!spool.mu.edu!caen!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!pyrite!mike
From: mike@pyrite.SOM.CWRU.Edu (Michael Kerner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: Confused Novice
Message-ID: <1991Jun1.000423.25196@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>
Date: 1 Jun 91 00:04:23 GMT
References: <3586@spim.mips.COM> <53006@apple.Apple.COM> <424@aplcomm.JHUAPL.EDU>
Sender: news@usenet.ins.cwru.edu
Organization: WSOM CSG, CWRU, Cleve. OH
Lines: 15
X-Post-Machine: pyrite.som.cwru.edu
Nntp-Posting-Host: pyrite.som.cwru.edu

Probably the best novice/medium user guide would be The Waite Group's HyperTalk
Bible.  It gives pretty good examples to follow through that should help.  When
Apple didn't include scripting manuals with HC a few years back I bought it and
have since then gotten my Graduate Assistantship at Case and an awesome full
time job.  The syntax isn't bad.  While it may be verbose, you will find that
it helps later.  Basically you need to make your code look like English and
chances are it will be close to working.  There are also some non-intuitive
things that happen with ordinals but after you get used to it I think you won't
ever go back to any other language - I used to do work in FORTRAN, COBOL,
Pascal, 950 different versions of BASIC, APL, ProLog ADA, LISP, etc. but I've
found that HyperCard is the easiest environment to do development in, as well
as the easiest code to pick up (i.e. someone else's) and read.

Mike.