The apps in this folder were created with the Alpha (1.0a1) release of Apple Dylan. These are extremely simple and limited applications intended to give very rough sneak preview at Dylan’s output for our most special friends.
For more info about Dylan, please see the Dylan FAQ elsewhere on this disk. If you have questions or comments, please send them to dylan-comments@cambridge.apple.com.
If you wish to apply for our early seeding program, please send your name, address, phone, and a brief explanation of what you’d use Dylan for to DYLAN at Applelink (dylan@applelink.apple.com).
To give you a taste of what Dylan source code looks like, some of the applications here include souces in the form of plain ascii files. Apple Dylan stores projects in an object-oriented database, with styled text and powerful browsing tools. The files you see here are exported from this environment.
Warning! Alpha!
Of course, alpha quality means many limitations. The performance of these early demos is much slower than it will be in later releases. Application startup is particularly slow, so please bear with us. We expect the Apple Dylan compiler to eventually deliver code approaching the size and speed of that produced by C++ compilers.
Do not attempt to run two Dylan demo programs at the same time. There is a known bug in the shared libraries; they don’t share nicely just yet, and this will freeze up your machine.
These apps have very little polish in terms of user interface. Please do not judge them too harshly, they are in an extremely preliminary form.
In order to run, Dylan applications need the Dylan.dl shared library, which can be linked into the application’s binary image, located in the same folder (which is what we’ve done here), or located in the System Extensions folder. Additional libraries provide additional functionality, such as the Dylan Application Framework (dylan-framework.dl). Users can create and deliver their own shared libraries. As you can see, these libraries allow useful apps to be created with very modest size requirements.
Contents of this folder
README - this file
Dylan.dl - shared library with the language kernel
dylan-framework.dl - shared library with the Application Framework
mac-toolbox.dl - shared library with some handy toolbox interfaces
hello
Hello test script
Hello source ƒ
This simply puts up a window saying “Hello Dylan!”.
Since the Dylan Application Framework supports AppleScript, try running the given test script. This script prompts you to change the contents of the “Hello” window to another string. The complete sources for this application are in the accompanying source folder.
Online Insultant
Online Insultant src ƒ
Need some abuse? Let Shakespeare help you. Try running with the Speech Manager installed to have your insults read to you out loud! This application is written without the Dylan Application Framework, and uses direct calls to the Mac Toolbox to put up its user interface.
Online Insultant Pro
Online Insultant Pro src ƒ
Even more abuse. This version uses the Dylan Application Framework.
paint-app - an extremely simple paint program
puzzle - traditional 15-puzzle
text-app - an extremely simple text editor
tiles - displays a family of simple geometric patterns
