<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
high-level	O
,	O
procedural	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
created	O
in	O
1987	O
by	O
Dan	O
Winkler	O
and	O
used	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
's	O
HyperCard	B-Application
hypermedia	O
program	O
by	O
Bill	O
Atkinson	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
main	O
target	O
audience	O
of	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
was	O
beginning	O
programmers	B-Application
,	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
programmers	B-Application
were	O
usually	O
called	O
"	O
authors	O
"	O
and	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
writing	O
programs	O
was	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
scripting	B-Language
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
scripts	O
resembled	O
written	O
English	O
and	O
used	O
a	O
logical	O
structure	O
similar	O
to	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
Pascal	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
supported	O
the	O
basic	O
control	O
structures	O
of	O
procedural	B-Application
languages	I-Application
:	O
repeat	O
for/while/until	O
,	O
if/then/else	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
function	O
and	O
message	O
"	O
handler	O
"	O
calls	O
(	O
a	O
function	O
handler	O
was	O
a	O
subroutine	O
and	O
a	O
message	O
handler	O
a	O
procedure	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
types	O
usually	O
did	O
not	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
specified	O
by	O
the	O
programmer	B-Application
;	O
conversion	O
happened	O
transparently	O
in	O
the	O
background	O
between	O
strings	O
and	O
numbers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
no	O
classes	O
or	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
in	O
the	O
traditional	O
sense	O
;	O
in	O
their	O
place	O
were	O
special	O
string	B-Language
literals	I-Language
,	O
or	O
"	O
lists	O
"	O
of	O
"	O
items	O
"	O
delimited	B-Algorithm
by	O
commas	O
(	O
in	O
later	O
versions	O
the	O
"	O
itemDelimiter	O
"	O
property	O
allowed	O
choosing	O
an	O
arbitrary	O
character	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
Apple	O
considered	O
using	O
HyperCard	B-Application
's	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
as	O
the	O
standard	O
language	O
across	O
the	O
company	O
and	O
within	O
its	O
classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
operating	O
system	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
for	O
interprocess	B-Operating_System
communication	I-Operating_System
between	O
Apple	O
and	O
non-Apple	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
did	O
not	O
oppose	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
imitations	O
like	O
SuperCard	B-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
it	O
created	O
the	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
Standards	O
Committee	O
to	O
avoid	O
incompatibility	O
between	O
language	O
variants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
case-insensitive	O
language	O
was	O
initially	O
interpreted	B-Application
,	O
but	O
gained	O
just-in-time	O
compilation	O
with	O
HyperCard	B-Application
2.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
most	O
basic	O
operations	O
including	O
mathematical	O
computations	O
,	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
favored	O
natural-language	O
ordering	O
of	O
predicates	O
over	O
the	O
ordering	O
used	O
in	O
mathematical	O
notation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
's	O
put	O
assignment	O
command	O
,	O
the	O
variable	O
was	O
placed	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
statement	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
code	O
has	O
the	O
side-effect	O
of	O
creating	O
the	O
variable	O
theResult	O
on	O
the	O
fly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scripts	O
could	O
assign	O
any	O
type	O
or	O
value	O
to	O
a	O
variable	O
using	O
the	O
put	O
command	O
,	O
making	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
very	O
weakly	O
typed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
would	O
not	O
complain	O
unless	O
the	O
types	O
could	O
not	O
be	O
automatically	O
converted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flow	O
control	O
and	O
logic	O
were	O
generally	O
similar	O
to	O
other	O
common	O
languages	O
,	O
using	O
a	O
if	O
...	O
then	O
...	O
else	O
...	O
end	O
if	O
structure	O
for	O
conditionals	B-Language
and	O
supporting	O
loops	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
flexible	O
repeat	O
...	O
end	O
repeat	O
syntax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperCard	B-Application
's	O
primary	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
concept	O
was	O
the	O
card	O
,	O
a	O
display	O
system	O
that	O
emulated	O
an	O
index	O
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cards	O
were	O
normally	O
used	O
to	O
store	O
information	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
a	O
record	O
in	O
a	O
conventional	O
flat-file	B-Application
database	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
functions	O
,	O
or	O
scripts	O
,	O
were	O
normally	O
stored	O
within	O
the	O
script	O
property	O
available	O
in	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
stack	O
's	O
containers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scripts	O
could	O
access	O
the	O
properties	O
of	O
a	O
container	O
,	O
corresponding	O
to	O
instance	B-Application
variables	I-Application
,	O
using	O
the	O
get	O
and	O
set	O
instructions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
key	O
concept	O
in	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
was	O
the	O
way	O
it	O
referred	O
to	O
containers	O
through	O
a	O
navigational	O
system	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
visual	O
hierarchy	O
of	O
the	O
stack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
contextual	O
aspects	O
of	O
statements	O
could	O
be	O
inferred	O
by	O
the	O
interpreter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
container	O
types	O
had	O
short	O
forms	O
that	O
programmers	B-Application
could	O
use	O
to	O
save	O
typing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Objects	O
within	O
a	O
given	O
context	O
—	O
the	O
card	O
or	O
background	O
,	O
for	O
instance	O
—	O
were	O
also	O
given	O
a	O
runtime	O
number	O
based	O
on	O
their	O
z-order	B-Algorithm
on	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
assist	O
in	O
using	O
their	O
position	O
for	O
navigation	O
,	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
also	O
included	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
ordinal	B-Language
and	O
cardinal	O
referencing	O
systems	O
to	O
simplify	O
the	O
syntax	O
further	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
choice	O
of	O
addressing	O
style	O
was	O
left	O
to	O
the	O
programmer	B-Application
;	O
often	O
different	O
styles	O
were	O
used	O
in	O
different	O
statements	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
code	O
more	O
readable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
included	O
the	O
me	O
container	O
which	O
acted	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
fashion	O
as	O
the	O
self	O
qualifier	O
found	O
in	O
most	O
object-oriented	B-Language
languages	I-Language
,	O
allowing	O
simple	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
current	O
container	O
object	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
code	O
exposes	O
another	O
common	O
feature	O
of	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
:	O
that	O
a	O
property	O
might	O
have	O
several	O
names	O
and	O
operators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
similar	O
example	O
was	O
the	O
lock	O
screen	O
command	O
that	O
stopped	O
visual	O
updating	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
short	O
form	O
for	O
,	O
where	O
lockscreen	O
is	O
a	O
property	O
of	O
HyperCard	B-Application
itself	O
—	O
also	O
a	O
container	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
examples	O
of	O
this	O
sort	O
of	O
syntactic	O
sugar	O
were	O
found	O
in	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
simplify	O
the	O
syntax	O
and	O
improve	O
readability	O
of	O
common	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
HyperCard	B-Application
2.2	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
the	O
collection	O
of	O
collections	O
was	O
also	O
available	O
as	O
a	O
container	O
's	O
parts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
notable	O
feature	O
of	O
the	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
container	O
model	O
was	O
its	O
handling	O
of	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Every	O
collection	O
of	O
text	O
,	O
whether	O
a	O
literal	B-Language
string	I-Language
in	O
a	O
program	O
or	O
text	O
typed	O
into	O
a	O
text	O
field	O
,	O
was	O
itself	O
considered	O
a	O
container	O
with	O
multiple	O
collections	O
of	O
containers	O
within	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
while	O
parsing	O
a	O
space-delimited	O
data	O
file	O
,	O
one	O
might	O
want	O
to	O
extract	O
the	O
third	O
column	O
,	O
like	O
this	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
also	O
included	O
functions	O
for	O
chunking	O
strings	O
using	O
a	O
substring-find	O
operation	O
using	O
the	O
in	O
operator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
used	O
the	O
same	O
chunking	O
system	O
to	O
produce	O
structures	O
like	O
arrays	O
or	O
lists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
types	O
of	O
data	O
could	O
be	O
imported	O
into	O
a	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
script	O
using	O
strings	O
that	O
would	O
get	O
parsed	O
as	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
item	O
chunking	O
expression	O
was	O
originally	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
comma	O
delimiter	B-Algorithm
,	O
but	O
later	O
versions	O
of	O
HyperCard	B-Application
changed	O
this	O
to	O
the	O
value	O
of	O
itemDelimiter	O
,	O
offering	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
parse	O
arbitrary	O
lists	O
and	O
structures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
used	O
an	O
object-oriented	B-Language
concept	O
for	O
calling	O
scripts	O
,	O
with	O
objects	O
in	O
the	O
stack	O
sending	O
"	O
events	O
"	O
as	O
messages	O
that	O
would	O
be	O
processed	O
by	O
handlers	O
that	O
declared	O
their	O
interest	O
in	O
receiving	O
the	O
events	O
using	O
the	O
on	O
syntax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
button	O
's	O
script	O
object	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
mouseUp	O
handler	O
(	O
or	O
no	O
script	O
at	O
all	O
)	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
then	O
passed	O
to	O
the	O
card	O
,	O
the	O
background	O
,	O
the	O
stack	O
,	O
any	O
stacks	O
whose	O
scripts	O
had	O
been	O
explicitly	O
imported	O
using	O
the	O
start	O
using	O
command	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
home	O
stack	O
"	O
(	O
a	O
user-selected	O
always-open	O
HyperCard	B-Application
stack	I-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
finally	O
to	O
the	O
HyperCard	B-Application
application	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Combining	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
's	O
string	O
processing	O
with	O
the	O
do	O
command	O
allowed	O
for	O
the	O
construction	O
of	O
interactive	O
interpreters	B-Application
by	O
placing	O
a	O
text	O
field	O
on	O
a	O
card	O
and	O
then	O
placing	O
this	O
code	O
in	O
the	O
field	O
's	O
script	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
code	O
first	O
selects	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
text	O
on	O
the	O
clicked	O
line	O
,	O
then	O
extracts	O
the	O
line	O
number	O
into	O
a	O
local	O
variable	O
,	O
then	O
uses	O
do	O
to	O
run	O
the	O
text	O
as	O
a	O
HyperCard	B-Application
script	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
HyperCard	B-Application
sent	O
periodic	O
idle	O
message	O
,	O
mouseEnter	O
,	O
mouseLeave	O
,	O
...	O
and	O
various	O
other	O
messages	O
related	O
to	O
navigation	O
between	O
different	O
cards	O
in	O
a	O
HyperCard	B-Application
stack	I-Application
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
user	O
input	O
(	O
keyDown	O
,	O
functionKey	O
,	O
...	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
system	O
events	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
far	O
as	O
the	O
scripters	O
were	O
concerned	O
,	O
there	O
were	O
no	O
main	O
event	O
loops	O
like	O
in	O
other	O
procedural	B-Application
programming	I-Application
languages	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
general	O
rapid	O
application	O
development	O
platforms	O
,	O
HyperCard	B-Application
stacks	I-Application
always	O
looked	O
like	O
stacks	O
-	O
the	O
menu	O
bar	O
was	O
HyperCard	B-Application
's	O
and	O
not	O
the	O
programmer	B-Application
's	O
(	O
by	O
default	O
—	O
scripting	B-Language
could	O
add	O
,	O
delete	O
and	O
modify	O
menus	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
single	O
window	O
was	O
a	O
fixed	O
size	O
(	O
in	O
early	O
versions	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
certain	O
cases	O
,	O
commands	O
that	O
were	O
central	O
to	O
the	O
operation	O
were	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
application	O
itself	O
,	O
and	O
not	O
directly	O
available	O
in	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
good	O
example	O
of	O
this	O
was	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
new	O
cards	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
application	O
,	O
not	O
directly	O
accessible	O
from	O
the	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
language	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
called	O
into	O
menu	O
commands	O
,	O
menu	O
commands	O
also	O
invoked	O
handlers	O
in	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperTalk	B-Language
also	O
provided	O
script	O
control	O
over	O
the	O
built-in	O
drawing	O
tools	O
,	O
simply	O
by	O
scripting	B-Language
the	O
needed	O
changes	O
in	O
paint	O
tools	O
and	O
simulating	O
mouse	O
movements	O
using	O
the	O
drag	O
from	O
start	O
to	O
end	O
and	O
the	O
click	O
at	O
position	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
unique	O
distinction	O
between	O
HyperCard	B-Application
's	O
programming	O
language	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
and	O
seemingly	O
similar	O
languages	O
like	O
AppleScript	B-Application
was	O
that	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
scripts	O
were	O
more	O
lenient	O
in	O
what	O
input	O
they	O
accepted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ask	O
for	O
character	O
2	O
of	O
1234	O
)	O
,	O
HyperCard	B-Application
would	O
also	O
recognize	O
certain	O
expressions	O
and	O
extract	O
sub-values	O
from	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
language	O
languished	O
just	O
like	O
HyperCard	B-Application
itself	O
,	O
it	O
received	O
a	O
second	O
lease	O
on	O
life	O
through	O
its	O
plugin	O
protocol	O
,	O
so-called	O
External	O
Commands	O
(	O
XCMDs	O
)	O
and	O
External	O
Functions	O
(	O
XFCNs	B-Language
)	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
native	O
code	O
containers	O
attached	O
to	O
stacks	O
(	O
as	O
Macintosh-specific	O
resources	B-Operating_System
)	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
entry	O
point	O
and	O
return	O
value	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XCMDs	O
and	O
XFCNs	B-Language
could	O
be	O
called	O
just	O
like	O
regular	O
message	O
and	O
function	O
handlers	O
from	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
scripts	O
,	O
and	O
were	O
also	O
able	O
to	O
send	O
messages	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
HyperCard	B-Application
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
scripting	B-Language
languages	I-Language
have	O
implemented	O
a	O
superset	O
of	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
(	O
collectively	O
known	O
as	O
xTalk	O
)	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
CompileIt	O
!	O
-Talk	O
–	O
A	O
HyperCard	B-Application
stack	I-Application
and	O
XCMD	O
by	O
Tom	O
Pittman	O
that	O
allowed	O
compiling	O
native	O
68000	O
machine	O
code	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
for	O
XCMDs	O
and	O
XFCNs	B-Language
)	O
from	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
code	O
,	O
and	O
calling	O
the	O
native	O
Macintosh	O
toolbox	O
routines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CompileIt	O
was	O
bootstrapped	B-Application
,	O
that	O
is	O
,	O
later	O
versions	O
were	O
compiled	O
using	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Double-XX-Talk	O
–	O
Double-XX	O
was	O
a	O
lightweight	O
HyperCard	B-Application
clone	O
that	O
shipped	O
as	O
an	O
addition	O
to	O
CompileIt	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
and	O
allowed	O
running	O
XCMDs	O
and	O
XFCNs	B-Language
without	O
HyperCard	B-Application
,	O
and	O
even	O
included	O
a	O
small	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
interpreter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MediaTalk	O
–	O
The	O
language	O
of	O
Oracle	B-Application
Media	I-Application
Objects	I-Application
,	O
a	O
descendant	O
of	O
Plus	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
first	O
cross-platform	O
HyperCard	B-Application
clone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PlusTalk	O
–	O
The	O
language	O
of	O
Plus	O
,	O
from	O
Spinnaker	O
Software	O
(	O
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
Format	O
Verlag	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
Oracle	B-Application
Media	I-Application
Objects	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SenseTalk	B-Language
–	O
The	O
language	O
of	O
the	O
NeXT-originated	O
and	O
the	O
VNC-based	O
testing	O
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SuperTalk	B-Language
–	O
The	O
language	O
of	O
SuperCard	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
first	O
HyperCard	B-Application
clone	O
,	O
by	O
Bill	O
Appleton	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Appleton	O
also	O
wrote	O
the	O
popular	O
World	B-Operating_System
Builder	I-Operating_System
adventure	O
construction	O
kit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Transcript	B-Application
(	O
formerly	O
revTalk	B-Application
and	O
MetaTalk	O
)	O
–	O
The	O
language	O
implemented	O
in	O
the	O
LiveCode	B-Application
(	O
formerly	O
Revolution	O
and	O
MetaCard	O
)	O
software	O
platform	O
and	O
development	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MetaCard	O
was	O
an	O
early	O
Unix-originated	O
HyperCard	B-Application
clone	O
that	O
ran	O
on	O
Classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
,	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	O
,	O
Windows	O
,	O
Linux	O
and	O
Solaris	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XION	O
-	O
Originally	O
the	O
language	O
of	O
an	O
open-source	O
HyperCard	B-Application
clone	O
that	O
never	O
materialized	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
languages	O
whose	O
syntax	O
and	O
structure	O
show	O
influences	O
from	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
,	O
such	O
as	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
ActionScript	B-Operating_System
–	O
The	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
for	O
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Flash	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
AppleScript	B-Application
–	O
The	O
main	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
of	O
Apple	O
's	O
Classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
,	O
and	O
still	O
supported	O
in	O
macOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lingo	B-Language
–	O
The	O
programming	O
language	O
of	O
Macromedia	O
Director	O
started	O
out	O
with	O
an	O
xTalk-like	O
syntax	O
,	O
although	O
later	O
versions	O
went	O
in	O
a	O
direction	O
resembling	O
JavaScript	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
JavaScript	B-Language
–	O
A	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
created	O
by	O
Brendan	O
Eich	O
which	O
is	O
commonly	O
implemented	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
in	O
order	O
to	O
create	O
enhanced	O
user	B-Application
interfaces	I-Application
and	O
dynamic	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
later	O
generalized	O
and	O
standardized	O
as	O
ECMAScript	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
method	O
names	O
first	O
popularized	O
by	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
made	O
it	O
into	O
later	O
languages	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
onmouseup	O
event	O
handler	O
in	O
JavaScript	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Asymetrix	O
ToolBook	B-Application
is	O
often	O
also	O
considered	O
a	O
HyperCard	B-Application
clone	O
,	O
its	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
apparently	O
bears	O
little	O
resemblance	O
to	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
.	O
</s>
