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AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition 2nd Edition

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Matt Neuburg (Author)
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Matt Neuburg (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars 43 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0596102111
ISBN-10: 0596102119
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 592 pages
  • Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 2 edition (January 14, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0596102119
  • ISBN-13: 978-0596102111
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsAt last, the truth about AppleScript
By David on December 11, 2003
Format: Paperback
Apple has long pushed AppleScript as an easy-to-learn, English-like way of automating repetitive tasks on a Mac. Alas, I and many, many others have discovered from painful experience that AppleScript is hugely difficult to approach -- its learning curve never seems to flatten out. Even after writing thousands of lines of code in several programs that (eventually) worked, I still feel I'm groping in the dark every time I try something new. I've read other books on AppleScript, looking for one that would open the magic door and reveal the simple, friendly AppleScript that's supposed to exist.
Matt Neuburg has given us the first AppleScript book that tells the deep truth: AppleScript is a quirky, inconsistent programming language that is not only hard to learn, but hard to learn for fundamental, structural reasons. Neuburg exposes the unavoidable difficulties that are built into AppleScript's design, and then shows us practical techniques for accomodating to them and using them.
Anyone who reads this book carefully will be able to apply AppleScript with greater understanding and less wasted time, and be able to use it with far less of the disappointment, frustration, and even rage felt by all too many people who collide unprepared with AppleScript's tricks and traps.
Since there's no "look inside the book" feature, let me summarize the main sections. Part I explores AppleScript in a system context: what it is meant to do; how it is used (with an intro to the Script Editor); and what its basic concepts are. (Contra another reviewer, this 90pp part contains nothing about history; it's all current and relevant stuff, needed later in the book.)
Central to Part I is Chapter 3, "The AppleScript Experience," which describes the actual process of building a program.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsIt is the best of books, it is the worst of books.
By D. Trevas on February 4, 2004
Format: Paperback
Sorry, Mr. Dickens, I just had to.
First, the bad parts. If you are a beginner to AppleScript (particularly if you've had little programming or scripting experience), DO NOT even think about looking at this book. It will be so confusing and discouraging, you'll leave angry. There are plenty of books that show you how to do simple things easily with AppleScript. They may be deluding you into thinking that it will be simple to use AppleScript for more complex tasks, but at least, you'll be getting hands-on learning in the meantime. No book can be truly suitable for beginners AND experts and I never believed that claim about this book. Sorry, beginners, this book is STRICTLY for intermediate to advanced users.
Having said that, I can begin to shower praise upon this masterpiece. As someone who has done some AppleScripting and have been through a lot of frustration doing anything beyond cookie-cutter work, Chapter 3 boosted my self-esteem about 10 notches! That chapter details Matt Neuberg's odyssey through the labyrinthine task of scripting FrameMaker. Been there, done that (in other apps)! So, I'm not such an idiot -- some of these object models aren't crystal clear.
I had always thought that AppleScript was the underrated, undersold and underused secret weapon that the Mac platform could wield over the competitors, especially the dreaded Windows! After using it and then having my suspicions confirmed by this book, I realize that despite all its power, AppleScript has failed in its mission of being the intuitively obvious, easy-to-use, simple, everyday, plain English, "scripting/programming-for-the-rest-of-us" tool it apparently was developed to be.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsMac Guild Review
By A Customer on January 29, 2004
Format: Paperback
AppleScript The Definitive Guide
What the Book is About
This book aims to provide a complete explanatory manual and reference to AppleScript, up to date with Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther).
Target Audience
The introduction states that the book assumes no prior knowledge of AppleScript or of any other programming language. While I agree that no knowledge of AppleScript is required, it's challenging to consider someone with no programming knowledge starting out with this book to use AppleScript as their first programming language. For experienced Applescript users, the book is likely to be an essential reference.
What NOT to Expect
Perhaps like many others who had not used AppleScript, I believed it was a simple, English-like language that was very easy to use. I jumped eagerly in at the first chapter, certain that I would soon be told go sit at my Mac and type my first 'Hello World' AppleScript into some application or other.
As I read and read chapter after chapter from the sofa, I realized it was not going to be quite so simple in either case.
AppleScript, according to the author, has come close to extinction in the past, but is now entering a 'golden age'; it is a technical innovation and a labor saving device for the ordinary Mac user, yet it's not true to say that it's an intuitive language needing no real explanation.
What to Expect
In reading this book, the author's (Matt Neuburg) expertise in AppleScript becomes immediately apparent. So too does his extremely erudite writing style. For example, when I got to the list of 'apothegms' and discovered that this synonym for 'saying' or 'maxim' was dictionary.com's word of the week on June the 9th, 2000, I naturally began to wonder whether he read dictionary.com every week for fun.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Thanks!

Published 2 months ago by Brian
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing!

This is the third time that I bought this book. I wore out the first one; the second one is on my shelf; and this third one is a new revision that is on my Kindle. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Stewart E. White
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book, and just the perfect resource for me.

Great book, and just the perfect resource for me.

Although I have not read through it cover to cover, it is the perfect resource for me to have as reference for those... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Snala
3.0 out of 5 starsBook Needs Serious Updating

Dry. Very difficult to understand many of the author's ideas and concepts. However he does use many examples throughout the book. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Oakman
2.0 out of 5 starsI don't like this book

I can program, and have read many books on programming - I am highly teachable. I know nothing about AppleScript, and this book just leaves me confused. Read more

Published on March 29, 2013 by Matt Allington
2.0 out of 5 starsOutdated

I absolutely love almost all O'Reilly books, with the exception of the books by Jesse Liberty (horrible writer, never buy any book by him), and own well over 20 of their books... Read more

Published on July 18, 2010 by Kay Ludge
2.0 out of 5 starsWritten more as a narrative than a technical book

First, I will state that I am a hands-on software development professional with thirty years' experience. So I have a little background on which to base my opinion. Read more

Published on November 27, 2009 by H. Bruce
3.0 out of 5 starsPretty Good Book about a Problematical Language

I'm a big fan of scripting languages -- I've been scripting the UNIX shells since 1978, and I've done a lot of work with Perl since the early 1990s. Read more

Published on January 26, 2009 by John Hevelin
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat for top-to-bottom understanding

Matt Neuburg has written a great text. It's easy to read and understand, and it's great a for a thorough understanding of the language. Read more

Published on February 8, 2007 by Jeffrey Strauss
5.0 out of 5 starsThis book really is definitive and realistic

I have programmed in Applescript for many years, but this book really helped to clarify a number of issues. Read more

Published on July 5, 2006 by HayFork

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