how big is the language?

[Jeanne A. E. DeVoto]

At 11:51 AM -0700 6/13/03, Chipp Walters wrote:
>1) How large IS the Transcript Language? (number of words the parser
>recognizes + custom Rev stuff) How large is MetaTalk? Doesn't need to be
>exact.

There are about 1400 documented terms in Transcript right now, not counting
synonyms (about 1700 counting synonyms), of which about 160 are not in
MetaTalk.


>2) How large IS/WAS the HyperTalk language? SuperTalk?

SuperTalk I'm not sure about.

HyperTalk 2.2 has about 350 commands, functions, properties, and built-in
messages. (By comparison, Transcript has about 1150 in these categories.)


>3) How large is the 'basic' vocabulary for MetaTalk/Transcript? IOW, how
>many words would a beginner be expected to know?

Well, of course, it depends on how you define "basic". If you ignore all
special-purpose vocabulary (like sockets, XML, speech, and other things
that you need only if you're working in that specific area), maybe 25-50
terms. The basic structures (on, function, end, exit, pass, if/then/else,
repeat), a few commands and operators (put, &, the arithmetic operators,
ask, answer, go, create, delete, sort...) and a few properties.

It depends also on whether you're changing properties via script or in the
properties palettes. For example, if you're changing colors dynamically
you'll need to know those properties and how they interact, but if they're
just set once in the property inspector, you don't really have to know at
first how they're referenced in Transcript.

--
Jeanne A. E. DeVoto ~ jeanne at runrev.com
Runtime Revolution Limited - Software at the Speed of Thought
http://www.runrev.com/