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Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

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Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#21

Post by fuzzywalrus »

vnchr wrote: post #14
WoodenChair wrote: post #9

This is a great evolution of the open source SpriteBuilder. Kudos to the developers for putting something together that really looks usable by the average Joe - like Hypercard. On the other hand, I doubt many average Joes still know the reference to Hypercard.

Don't disagree re the average Joe, but as a semi-technical Joe without the chops to really code this is exciting. I'd like to see more non-game demos to better appreciate the scope, but SalesForce integration screams small and medium business use-cases.

The allegory to HyperCard is interesting as HyperCard had its own programming language, HyperTalk.

Same with Macromedia Director, which also had Lingo (which was similar to HyperTalk). I never considered those apps as "no programming required" but more like "less programming required"

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#22

Post by PhilKomarny »

ceeK wrote: post #6

This looks great. I think highlighting a bit more of the actual app side (rather than creating games) would be beneficial. Lots of features in the video for games, but nothing about tableviews etc.

Thanks for the GREAT feedback!

Here is what we cooked up this morning in the hotel, table views for demo today. All classic CocoaTouch controls will be in the first release.

http://vine.co/v/MOx5Xd7vMIJ

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#23

Post by cortesoft »

djdrzzy wrote: post #18

Hypercard was what I first started developing on back when I was young. Great to see it come to life again. Javascript instead of Hypertalk though... ;)

Me too! (Well I started first in basic, but HyperCard was where I did my real first programming)

I made so many crazy games in HyperCard. I had no idea what I was doing either; I had countless hidden fields that I used to store data, serialized with my own custom format.

I loved it though. So much fun!

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#24

Post by camus2 »

alecdbrooks wrote: post #20
camus2 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would you expect a 9 yo to accomplish regarding programming? What do you teach them? (it's just a question,not a criticism,before you downvote in mass)

From what I've heard of HyperCard and learning programming languages, children definitely could create a small game, short animation or interactive story. At nine years old, it would probably be rudimentary, but they could learn the basics. Without meaning to be rude, this question's like asking "What would you expect a nine year old to accomplish regarding writing and drawing?" If you don't like that analogy, consid…

   >"What would you expect a 
   >nine year old to accomplish 
   >regarding writing and drawing?
I'm no teacher, i dont have kids and dont remember myself being one. My question is about the content of the teaching.What does the the parent teach them, and how he does it,nothing more . I'm not sure what your point is.

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#25

Post by djdrzzy »

cortesoft wrote: post #23
djdrzzy wrote: post #18

Hypercard was what I first started developing on back when I was young. Great to see it come to life again. Javascript instead of Hypertalk though... ;)

Me too! (Well I started first in basic, but HyperCard was where I did my real first programming) I made so many crazy games in HyperCard. I had no idea what I was doing either; I had countless hidden fields that I used to store data, serialized with my own custom format. I loved it though. So much fun!

My biggest 'magic' moment in hypercard was this technique called one-card animation that I copied out of some book. It was basically a script to direct the lasso tool to select an area on the screen, then slowly drag it across the screen. Having it work seemed magical in that I had told the computer what to do and it listened. Been hooked on making software ever since!

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#26

Post by pjmlp »

camus2 wrote: post #12
critium wrote: post #7

Is there something like this for kids? Been teaching my kids to program and I cant find one easy enough to use (ages 5-9) outside of PPT (yes, I consider slide transitions programming). Scratch is ok but its not fun enough for them or maybe too advanced.

What would you expect a 9 yo to accomplish regarding programming? What do you teach them? (it's just a question,not a criticism,before you downvote in mass)

I started coding at the age of 10 on a ZX Spectrum back in the early 80's with BASIC.

So I would expect a 9 year old to be able to write simple programs, drawing simple 2D figures or question/answer programs.

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#27

Post by alecdbrooks »

camus2 wrote: post #24
alecdbrooks wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've heard of HyperCard and learning programming languages, children definitely could create a small game, short animation or interactive story. At nine years old, it would probably be rudimentary, but they could learn the basics. Without meaning to be rude, this question's like asking "What would you expect a nine year old to accomplish regarding writing and drawing?" If you don't like that analogy, consid…

>"What would you expect a >nine year old to accomplish >regarding writing and drawing? I'm no teacher, i dont have kids and dont remember myself being one. My question is about the content of the teaching.What does the the parent teach them, and how he does it,nothing more . I'm not sure what your point is.

Programming tools like Logo and HyperCard give children a chance to be creative, like writing and drawing do.

Beyond self-expression, children could learn the basics of

* interaction design ("'Click here' doesn't explain what a button does"),

* debugging ("It's okay to be wrong at first. I can just keep fixing it until it works")

* and geometry ("I can make a shape look more like a circle if I give it more sides").

EDIT: Here's a neat example of HyperCard's power: http://www.loper-os.org/?p=568. It's a bit complicated for a child, but it gives you a sense of HyperCard's potential.

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#28

Post by kalleboo »

camus2 wrote: post #12
critium wrote: post #7

Is there something like this for kids? Been teaching my kids to program and I cant find one easy enough to use (ages 5-9) outside of PPT (yes, I consider slide transitions programming). Scratch is ok but its not fun enough for them or maybe too advanced.

What would you expect a 9 yo to accomplish regarding programming? What do you teach them? (it's just a question,not a criticism,before you downvote in mass)

I started programming in HyperCard around age 7-8. The first things I did were basically interactive stories - think Myst with stick figures and a really childish plot/simplicity. Drawing pictures, placing buttons over them that took you to different pictures with more buttons. Dialogs with questions and multiple choice answer buttons. Eventually adding variables that would remember things that happened before and use those to change behavior later in the game.

I also had fun composing really bad melodies with the HyperCard sound command (that let you enter notes - it'd scale whatever sound effect in pitch)

edit: the greatest learning tools for me were all the included sample stacks. Tearing apart and editing those and the code that made them tick was an amazing learning experience ("oh! so instead of making 50 buttons, I can make one button, and do this thing with the mouse position and some math [something they make me do in school that I otherwise find pointless] and figure out which section was clicked!")

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#29

Post by misuba »

spot wrote: post #15

unless this is programmable in javascript, how is it allowed by apple? and if it is javascript, then it's missing a key feature of hypercard that made it accessible, hypertalk. here's another hypercard inspired app: http://infinitecanvassuite.com/

HyperTalk could be done in JS as an intermediate compilation step. (Which we know because that's exactly what TileStack did before it died: http://www.cnet.com/news/tilestack-hypercard-comes-back-from... )

Re: Hypercard reimagined – an iOS app maker and private app store

#30

Post by misuba »

hmhrex wrote: post #2

This looks interesting to me, but doesn't Apple hate apps that are too much like the App Store? The Private App Store description seems like it would make it a target for the ban hammer.

Yyyyup.

I'd only give these guys money if "AppDrop" isn't part of the value proposition for you.

(It isn't for me! An app toolkit that works like HC sounds fantastic - I wish they weren't muddying the waters with this app-store business.)

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