HyperCard - CocoaDev

AppleComputer’s stack development environment, which used HyperTalk to script the Object Oriented environment.

It now seems to be dead; may it rest in peace. It served as my introduction to programming, and I will never forget the fun I had with it.

Amen to that… HyperCard was lots of fun

FYI, There are some initiatives on the way trying to bring back HyperCard, and several clones are still alive and kicking:

http://danmckinnon.net/retrocard/?id=1 - Retrocard: a web-based monochrome experience extremely similar to the original HyperCard.
http://www.freecard.org - FreeCard: an OpenSource project trying to recreate HyperCard using Java, XML, and many other nice buzzwords
http://www.supercard.us - SuperCard: one of the first HyperCard clones, most Mac-like of the bunch
http://www.runrev.com - Runtime Revolution (fka MetaCard): very powerful, quite fast, cross-platform, not as intuitive, more to learn
http://www.creysoft.com - An attempt to create a powerful HyperCard alternative using C++, Objective C, and Cocoa frameworks.
http://www.sourceforge.net - There are a lot of (even Cocoa-based) HyperCard clone projects listed there, many of which are dead, though. The only one I found that seems to still be in progress is called Kiwi.
http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/ - a HyperCard similar framework written in Python

OMO/Plus have been discontinued for quite a while, and Asymmetrix Toolbook uses a very un-HyperCard-ish programming language these days. Dan Gelder’s Serf and its successor Monkey have apparently also disappeared from the face of the earth. There’s also a mailing list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xtalks/ for discussions related to standardizing the various HyperTalk-derived programming languages. And yeah, I’m currently the List-mommy of that list.

I also wrote an xTalk interpreter called “Joker” once, source code of which can be found as part of the (abandoned) Yancy project on my web site. If anyone wants to collaborate on a similar project, or pick up development of Joker, feel free to contact me at http://www.zathras.de/contact.php

(UliKusterer 2003-10-06)

SUPERCARD ( http://www.supercard.us/ ) has been around since the HyperCard days - it used to be the ‘colour’ alternative to the ‘B&W’ HyperCard, and is still a very solid product. The interface (and the workflow) is a bit different to the old HyperCard, but transition is not a problem.

Runtime Revolution ( http://www.runrev.com/ ) is not only the closest clone of the original HyperCard, it is also the most compatible, seems to be by far the most popular, and is the most actively maintained. It can open the old HyperCard stacks, and produce stand-alone applications, for Mac, Windows and Linux. The engine is web-savvy, interacts with database servers, and can even use XML and SOAP services. There are a number of commercial programs built on RunRev, and they have a very active user-base and software community. They have 3 or 4 different ‘versions’ of the main software for sale, with prices ranging from peanuts to expensive.

While it can be too limited or large-scale and complex projects, it is certainly a great alternative for quickly producing simple solutions such as multimedia kiosks and network database interface apps - and it is great for rapid prototyping.