Userland released the program Frontier in January 1992. Apple Computer released the AppleScript environment at the World Wide Developers Conference in 1993. These two products let you write scripts for Apple Macintosh computers. A script is a program that tells other programs what to do and allows the automation of repetitive tasks. Getting stock prices, putting them into a spreadsheet, and creating a chart would be a task that a script could handle.

This book guides you through the commands for and uses of AppleScript and Frontier. A third of the book is given to describing how AppleScript works and covering its commands. Another third is devoted to describing how Frontier works and presenting its commands. The final third covers creating actual scripts. A CD-ROM containing AppleScript, Frontier Runtime, several utilities, and many example scripts from the book is included.

The book has a friendly style. It tries to capture and explain some of the jargon as it describes the creation and uses of scripts. While most longtime computer users can skip over this information, it can come in handy for those less experienced. The book is probably best for those with a moderate level of Mac and programming experience. Those who want to dive into scripting will find this a good introduction and reference book. The CD-ROM makes it all the more appealing.