Editing AppleScript (section)

== History ==
In the late 1980s, Apple considered using [[HyperCard]]'s [[HyperTalk]] scripting language as the standard language for [[end-user development]] across the company and within its [[classic Mac OS]] operating system, and for [[interprocess communication]] between Apple and non-Apple products.<ref name="flynn19890227">{{Cite magazine |last=Flynn |first=Laurie |date=February 27, 1989 |title=Apple Ponders Standardizing on HyperTalk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IToEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT30 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |page=31 |volume=11 |issue=9}}</ref> HyperTalk could be used by novices to program a HyperCard stack. Apple engineers recognized that a similar, but more object-oriented scripting language could be designed to be used with any [[application software|application]], and the AppleScript project was born as a spin-off of a research effort to modernize the Macintosh as a whole and finally became part of [[System 7 (Macintosh)|System 7]].<ref name="Cook 2006">{{cite conference |author-link1=William Cook (computer scientist) |first=William |last=Cook |book-title=Proceedings of the third ACM SIGPLAN conference on History of programming languages |title=AppleScript |url=http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~wcook/Drafts/2006/ashopl.pdf  |doi=10.1145/1238844.1238845 |isbn= 9781595937667|pages=1–21 |publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery]] |date=2007|s2cid=220938191 }}</ref>

AppleScript was released in October 1993 as part of System 7.1.1 (System 7 Pro, the first major upgrade to System 7).<ref name="Cook 2006"/> [[QuarkXPress]] (ver. 3.2) was one of the first major software applications that supported AppleScript. This, in turn, led to AppleScript being widely adopted within the publishing and prepress world, often tying together complex workflows. This was a key factor in retaining the Macintosh's dominant position in publishing and prepress, even after QuarkXpress and other publishing applications were ported to Microsoft Windows.

After some uncertainty about the future of AppleScript on Apple's next generation OS, the move to [[Mac OS X]] (around 2002) and its [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]] frameworks greatly increased the usefulness and flexibility of AppleScript. Cocoa applications allow application developers to implement basic scriptability for their apps with minimal effort, broadening the number of applications that are directly scriptable. At the same time, the shift to the Unix underpinnings and AppleScript's ability to run Unix commands directly, with the <code>do shell script</code> command,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/AppleScript/Conceptual/AppleScriptLangGuide/reference/ASLR_cmds.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40000983-CH216-SW40 |title=AppleScript Language Guide commands reference: do shell script |website=developer.apple.com |access-date=September 15, 2019}}</ref> allowed AppleScripts much greater control over the operating system itself.<ref name="Sanderson"/>{{rp|863}} [[#AppleScript Studio|AppleScript Studio]], released with [[Mac OS X 10.2]] as part of [[Xcode]], and later [[#AppleScriptObjC|AppleScriptObjC]] framework, released in [[Mac OS X 10.6]], allowed users to build Cocoa applications using AppleScript.<ref name="Sanderson"/>{{rp|969}}

In a 2006 article, ''[[Macworld]]'' included AppleScript among its rankings of Apple's 30 most significant products to date, placing it at #17.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apple's greatest hits: 30 significant products |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/1050178/30applelist.html |website=macworld.com |access-date=September 12, 2019}}</ref>

In a 2013 article for ''Macworld'', veteran Mac software developer and commentator [[John Gruber]] concluded his reflection on "the unlikely persistence of AppleScript" by noting: "In theory, AppleScript could be much better; in practice, though, it's the best thing we have that works. It exemplifies the Mac's advantages over [[iOS]] for tinkerers and advanced users."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gruber |first=John |author-link=John Gruber |date=March 2013 |title=The unlikely persistence of AppleScript |journal=[[Macworld]] |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=100 |url=http://www.macworld.com/article/2018607/the-unlikely-persistence-of-applescript.html}}</ref>

In October 2016, longtime AppleScript product manager and automation evangelist [[Sal Soghoian]] left Apple when his position was eliminated "for business reasons".<ref>{{cite web |last=Lovejoy |first=Ben |date=November 17, 2016 |title=Sal Soghoian says 'ask Apple' about future of Mac user automation as company eliminates position |url=https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/17/mac-user-automation-sal-soghoian/ |website=9to5mac.com |access-date=May 8, 2017}}</ref> Veterans in the Mac community such as [[John Gruber]] and [[Andy Ihnatko]] generally responded with concern, questioning Apple's commitment to the developer community and pro users.<ref>{{cite web |last=Evans |first=Jonny |date=November 17, 2016 |title=Does Apple really want to kill Automator, AppleScript? Shock termination of veteran Apple developer guru sends shockwaves across the Mac community |url=http://www.computerworld.com/article/1676596/does-apple-really-want-to-kill-automator-applescript.html |website=[[Computerworld]].com |access-date=May 8, 2017}}</ref> Apple senior vice president of software engineering [[Craig Federighi]] responded in an email saying that "We have every intent to continue our support for the great automation technologies in macOS!", though Jeff Gamet at ''The Mac Observer'' opined that it did little to assuage his doubt about the future of Apple automation in general and AppleScript in particular.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gamet |first=Jeff |date=November 23, 2016 |title=Apple's intent isn't the same as committing to mac automation |url=https://www.macobserver.com/analysis/apple-automation-commitment/ |website=macobserver.com |access-date=May 8, 2017}}</ref> For the time being, AppleScript remains one component of macOS automation technologies, along with [[Automator (software)|Automator]], [[Shortcuts (app)|Shortcuts]], [[Services menu|Services]], and [[shell script]]ing.