HyperNext

HyperNext Studio Family.

HyperNext is a visual software development system aimed at beginner programmers that runs on Macintosh and Windows computers. It was inspired by HyperCard and includes a GUI having controls such as buttons and listboxes, and an interpreted English-like programming language. HyperNext also includes a high-level object-oriented compiled BASIC. The HyperNext Studio package comprises three complementary applications that can help users create and run software under Windows and Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 platforms:

  1. HyperNext Creator is similar to Hypercard and enables users to create their own software, both cross-platform standalone applications and stacks for the freeware HyperNext Player. The design interface of Creator has just a design window, one toolbar and a mode switcher. Its three modes of Design, Preview and Run enable rapid switching between the creation/editing and running of programs.
  2. HyperNext Developer builds plugins/libraries for HyperNext Creator and allows users to extend the functionality of Creator with their own or 3rd party plugins. HyperNext Developer has a very similar user interface to that of Hypernext Creator and places built plugins directly into the Creator's plugin folder. For faster plugin development is possible to have both Creator and Developer open simultaneously.
  3. HyperNext Player is a standalone application similar to Hypercard Player in that it runs stacks created by its creator application, HyperNext Creator. HyperNext Player is freeware and there are versions for Windows and Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 platforms.

Programming environment

HyperNext has a relatively simple design interface that allows programs to be quickly run and tested. Controls such as buttons can be selected on the toolbar and then added to the design window. Once placed, controls can have their properties changed and their scripts edited using the in-built script editor. HyperCard is based on the concept of a "stack" of virtual "cards." Cards hold data, just as they would in a rolodex but can also contain user-interface elements such as buttons.

HyperNext's main programming language is simply called HyperNext and is loosely based on Hypercard's HyperTalk language. HyperNext is an interpreted English-like language and has many features that allow creation of full applications and stacks. These features includes a large variety of keywords to affect and receive feedback from its many GUI control types and multi-media capabilities using Apple QuickTime. Midi notes and sounds can be played using Note Player and HyperNext's sprite surface has various uses including game development. The Macintosh versions of HyperNext include functions to run the AppleScript scripting language.

The HyperNext language can be extended with user-defined or third-party plugins developed using HyperNext Developer. HyperNext also has the ability to run RBscripts at runtime so allowing users to make their own programmable applications. There is a wide range of RBscript code and similar BASIC code already available at various sites on the internet. RBscript is a version of REALbasic, a modern object-oriented BASIC developed by REAL Software.

HyperNext has a framework for developing neural networks and comes with examples showing how to implement neural network training and testing. The example projects and stacks include analysis of patient heart data, DNA sequences and second hand car prices.

A recent introduction to HyperNext is the ability to control biofeedback devices such as the LightStone using USB HID communications. The LightStone device sends out data that can be processed to give heart rate and skin conductance values which can then be monitored by a program to aid meditation or enable biofeedback games to be played. HyperNext has an example project and stack that display graphically the data from a LightStone device.

HyperNext Android Creator

HyperNext Android Creator(HAC) can develop applications for Android and runs on the Windows platform. It allows beginner programmers to develop applications for both the Android Emulator and Android smart-phones/tablets without the need to know the Java programming language.

HyperNext Android Creator integrates with the Android SDK and Java JDK to allow much easier creation of Android apps by beginner programmers than either the Eclipse (software) or NetBeans development systems can because knowledge of the Java programming language and Android SDK framework are not required.

HyperNext Android Creator includes a subset of the current Android functionality including Services for running background tasks. It builds Android apps for Android OS 1.6 and above.

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