Programming in Plain English

If youve ever had the desire to be a computer programmer, write your own programs, set your spirit free to create wondrous works, and if you have a Macintosh, then this ones for you.

No doubt youve cracked open a Programming in C book, and been totally confused by all the colons and brackets and curly braces. What do they mean? How will you ever remember it all?

Even the most intelligent person can be overwhelmed with the alienness of the C programming language. Bottom line, its TOUGH learning C. And even tougher troubleshooting in it. Your code doesnt work, but WHY??

Example from Learn C on the Macintosh:

#include

int main( void )
{
int i, num;
long fac;

num = 5;
fac = 1;

for ( i=1; i<=num; i++ )
fac *= i;

printf( "%d factorial is %ld.", num, fac );

return 0;

}

What does it mean?? Knowing nothing about the language, can you guess what the above piece of code does? Pure gibberish to me. Ready to give up? Well STOP. Because there is a solution. A language that is written in plain English. Now try this example:

on rollDice
answer "Click the mouse to get each number."
put "0,0,0" into rolls
repeat with roll = 1 to 3
repeat until the mouseClick
put random(6) into word roll of rolls
put rolls
end repeat
end repeat
put 0 into matchCount
if word 1 of rolls is word 2 of rolls then add 1 to
matchCount
if word 2 of rolls is word 3 of rolls then add 1 to
matchCount
if word 4 of rolls is word 1 of rolls then add 1 to
matchCount
if matchCount is 0 then
play "boing"
answer "You lose!" with "Crud."
else if matchCount is 1 then
play "harpsichord" c c
answer "Doubles!" with "Great!"
else if matchCount is 3 then
beep 5
answer "Triples!" with "Wow!"
end if
end rollDice

Knowing nothing about this language, can you guess what this piece of code does? Are you excited yet? Well you should be!

Because it gets even better. If youve ever dabbled in a standard programming environment, you write the code, and the only visual image you have is the one in your mind. Until you RUN the code to see if it matches your vision. How would you like to SEE the code in action, immediately after you write it? And see how it interacts will ALL the other code youve written? See the final product even as you create it?

How would you like to see the final product, WHILE YOU ARE STILL writing the code?

Now are you excited?

Were talking the granddaddy of all object oriented languages. This language existed before we even had a term for it. To create a button for the user to click on, you choose New Button from a menu, and voila! A button appears. You drag it where you want it, and of course write the code as to what the button does when clicked on. From the Get Button Info window, you choose what the button will look like, the text style, the shape.... Are you getting the picture here?? I dont even want to calculate how many lines of code you would have to write to just CREATE the button in C.

So what is this plain English programming language? Before I spill the beans, Id like to direct you to my Web site, where you can download 10 different shareware/freeware programs written in this language. With two more set for release this month. Two have been chosen MacPick of the Week.

I want you to SEE what you can create, before telling you what the language is, because there is a huge misconception floating around about this language. It has not been marketed as a programming tool, and most people have no idea of the power of this language, especially for new programmers.

Before you read further, go look at my Web site, every program was written in this language. You dont even have to download anything, just get an idea of what you can create. From Yahtzee type games to political games that put you in the presidents hotseat, to card games and role playing adventure games, you can be a programmer!

http://www.gypsyware.com

And if you have any doubts, my creations are all shareware/freeware, so you can see a good working demo. And if you STILL have doubts, know this, the incredibly popular commercial game MYST was written in this language.

The language, you ask?? Is HyperTalk. The language of a program called HyperCard. The programming environment is the HyperCard program. You dont need CodeWarrior or any other compilers. Though I would suggest two excellent books that will tell you everything you need to know to become a programming whiz in this language. HyperCard is produced by Apple, and contrary to what anybody tells you, it is still alive and well.

There are other xTalk languages that use the same environment, and some of them are even cross-platform, though they are more expensive than HyperCard. Two that I know of are SuperCard and MetaCard. You can get more info from their Web sites.

The retail price of HyperCard is about $89. And you can order it from Apple.

The retail price of SuperCard is about $145. They offer a trial version that you can download. Their web site is at:
http://www.incwell.com/SuperCard/SuperCard.html

The retail price of MetaCard is about $995. You can download their starter kit and Try before you Buy. MetaCard is cross-platform. The MetaCard web site is at: http://www.metacard.com
Their site includes example programs you can download and check
out.

Whatever road you travel to your destiny of creations, may your journey be bug-free :-)

About the Author

Shari Coxford, founder of Gypsy King Software, is a Mac game programmer. To check out the Gypsy King web site, go to:
gypsyware.com

You may reprint this in newsletters and on Web pages as long as you use it in its entirety, including this resource box with the authors information. Author retains ALL copyrights. To reprint this article in traditional print media, please contact the author at bellsouth.net?subject=reprint Program
Shari L. Coxford/Gypsy King Software © 2000

:To contact see details below.


gogypsy@bellsouth.net?
http://www.gypsyware.com