4 ms·

Can you script google docs? That's how I "played with my word processor" when I was a kid (I was a bookish kid and read every manual in my computer; turns out m

Can you script google docs? That's how I "played with my word processor" when I was a kid (I was a bookish kid and read every manual in my computer; turns out many were about VB scripting and the Windows API... I was intrigued). I suspect many more did. If people had access only to web apps, they couldn't have those kind of experiences; I think that's what the parent commenter points to. Now, I don't actually think these kind of things are becoming extinct, or anything like that: it's easier in many ways nowadays. But the web by itself still has some way to go to fully provide them, also because it is so huge. I've started to rant, so I'll end here.

icebraining 14y ago
Can you script google docs? Yes: https://developers.google.com/apps-script/overview https://developers.google.com/apps-script/overview By the way, I started programming in '99, and since I didn't have a computer at the time, I learned JavaScript, since I could run it on IE4 on public machines. So yes, a browser (and, I guess, Notepad) is really all you need! Besides, since then and between PHP/Python/etc shared hosting and tools like Codeanywhere (which can talk to S/FTP servers), a web browser is enough for building web applications. (Of course, the web is far from reaching the potential of desktop development, of course. But it has come a long way already)
- fmoralesc 14y ago
  > Yes. Neat! I eat my thoughts (It's the kind of thing I miss by using vim for almost everything). EDIT: But it is a separate app...
  - icebraining 14y ago
    Not exactly: "The script editor can be accessed directly at http://script.google.com http://script.google.com, or by launching it from one of the Google products which support built-in access to the script editor, such as Google Spreadsheets and Google Sites." In Spreadsheets, you just need to go to Tools → Scripts → Script Editor.
  - wutbrodo 14y ago
    Not a separate app, in any meaningful sense of the word. I use it extensively for personal use; I have a couple spreadsheets online involving personal data and I just click a button in the menu for spreadsheets to open up the script editor.
calinet6 14y ago
If you haven't noticed, you can script the entire web. It's the most "scriptable" platform yet, and it's way more fun and open and flexible to play with than any of the older APIs. If you're the kind of person who looks under the hood, you're going to do it regardless of whether you're working on a desktop word processor or a web app, and it is my strong opinion that these kinds of intelligent and curios people are still coming into this world.
- fmoralesc 14y ago
  Agreed, of course.

icebraining 14y ago

Can you script google docs? Yes: https://developers.google.com/apps-script/overview https://developers.google.com/apps-script/overview By the way, I started programming in '99, and since I didn't have a computer at the time, I learned JavaScript, since I could run it on IE4 on public machines. So yes, a browser (and, I guess, Notepad) is really all you need! Besides, since then and between PHP/Python/etc shared hosting and tools like Codeanywhere (which can talk to S/FTP servers), a web browser is enough for building web applications. (Of course, the web is far from reaching the potential of desktop development, of course. But it has come a long way already)

fmoralesc 14y ago
> Yes. Neat! I eat my thoughts (It's the kind of thing I miss by using vim for almost everything). EDIT: But it is a separate app...
- icebraining 14y ago
  Not exactly: "The script editor can be accessed directly at http://script.google.com http://script.google.com, or by launching it from one of the Google products which support built-in access to the script editor, such as Google Spreadsheets and Google Sites." In Spreadsheets, you just need to go to Tools → Scripts → Script Editor.
- wutbrodo 14y ago
  Not a separate app, in any meaningful sense of the word. I use it extensively for personal use; I have a couple spreadsheets online involving personal data and I just click a button in the menu for spreadsheets to open up the script editor.

calinet6 14y ago

If you haven't noticed, you can script the entire web. It's the most "scriptable" platform yet, and it's way more fun and open and flexible to play with than any of the older APIs. If you're the kind of person who looks under the hood, you're going to do it regardless of whether you're working on a desktop word processor or a web app, and it is my strong opinion that these kinds of intelligent and curios people are still coming into this world.

fmoralesc 14y ago
Agreed, of course.