Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!chuq
From: chuq@sun.uucp (Chuq Von Rospach; Lord of the OtherRealms)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: "HyperCard Scripting"
Message-ID: <36317@sun.uucp>
Date: 12 Dec 87 01:24:54 GMT
Organization: Fictional Reality, uLtd
Lines: 31

I ran into this at Computer Literacy, the local computer specialty bookstore.
What it is is a publication (I can't call it a book) about writing
HyperTalk. It's $17.95, published by Walking Shadow Library [P.O. Box 2092,
Saratoga, CA 95071]. It is a photocopied, three ring looseleaf manual that
is an introduction to HyperTalk.

Is this worth tracking down and buying? In a word, no. For any HyperCard
book to be worth having, it not only has to be as good as Danny Goodman's
tome (Bantam has said, by the way, that 100,000 copies of that thing have
been sold -- SOMEONE is using HyperCard!), it has to be better. This isn't.

I have trouble believing from the outset that an unbound set of looseleaf
pages could be worth $18. The packaging is low cost and unprofessional. This
implies that the material inside has to be that much better to make it worth
my time.

Unfortunately, as programming guides go, this isn't all that exceptional.
It's basically a beginners tutorial. It actually covers less material than
Goodman's book, and it never really ties it all together into a cohesive
whole. The examples are trivial and not very useful or practical.

If this had gone into more advanced topics, or had some examples, scripts or
programming tips that weren't seen elsewhere, it might be worth having. I
couldn't find a single topic that wasn't covered as well or better in
Goodman's book. Since EVERY HyperCard hacker should have Goodman's book,
there's no reason to have this. I can't even say "well, this is better
organized, so you'll find things in it faster" -- not true.

give this one a pass. 

chuq