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From Python to AppScript

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In previous posts, I've been exploring what you can do with Google Apps, the APIs and AppScript.

The joy of the APIs is that I can talk to them with my favourite ( textual ) programming language python which in real terms normally means noodling around in the interpreter - eventually saving a page worth of code into a script.

I'm comfortable with python, but if I'm to share what I'm doing as a "you can too" thing then I need to knuckle down, give in, and finally learn the basics of Javascript, or rather AppScript. I've always resisted Javascript, because:


  • I really hate braces
  • I loathe semi-colons
  • The string handling seems goofy.toString()
  • itOftenUsesThisTypeOfNotation( )
  • There's never an interpreter lying around when you need one


And the forloops are hideous!  Something that is so naturally fluid in python, seems like line noise to someone like me. It seems crazy that forloops, something you do all the time, are so verbose... I mean...  a simple Javascript forloop has 65 characters and python's only 50. That's probably like 300% difference...

Javascript forloop
for(i = 0; i < 5; i++){
    document.write("Counter i = " + i);
}
Python forloop
for i in range(0,5):
    print "Counter i = " + str(i)

Anyway...

Having actually spent a few minutes ACTUALLY TRYING to learn Javascript, I'm starting to quite like it, although with prejudices embedded this deep, it's going to be hard work.

I think I may have an idea what a prototype is... but I'm not sure I will ever get the applying of a function to something clear in my head... sure it looks useful, but most of the stuff I want to do is DEAD SIMPLE...

So. Given that I'm not a programmer, and I want to collaborate with people who probably aren't programmers either, on finding really simple solutions,  I'm diving in and seeing how far I get across before I sink.







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