Script Debugger is a

Macintosh computer The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

source code editor A source-code editor is a text editor program designed specifically for editing source code of computer programs. It may be a standalone application or it may be built into an integrated development environment (IDE) or web browser. Source-code ed ...

and

debugging In computer programming and software development, debugging is the process of finding and resolving ''bugs'' (defects or problems that prevent correct operation) within computer programs, software, or systems. Debugging tactics can involve in ...

environment for the

AppleScript AppleScript is a scripting language created by Apple Inc. that facilitates automated control over scriptable Mac applications. First introduced in System 7, it is currently included in all versions of macOS as part of a package of system aut ...

programming language, and other languages based on

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

Open Scripting Architecture AppleScript is a scripting language created by Apple Inc. that facilitates automated control over scriptable Mac applications. First introduced in System 7, it is currently included in all versions of macOS as part of a package of system automat ...

. It is a product of

Late Night Software Late Night Software Ltd., is a privately held Canadian software company that has produced several applications, utilities, and developer's tools for the Macintosh computer platform. The company was established in 1995. Its president is Mark All ...

History

Script Debugger version 1.0 was released in 1995 by Mark Alldritt as a

third-party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Veh ...

alternative to Apple's

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for t ...

application,

Script Editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wi ...

. Its competitors at that time included ScriptWizard and Main Event Software's popular Scripter. These two products today are defunct, leaving only Satimage's

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses d ...

and

integrated development environment An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools a ...

s such as FaceSpan (also from Late Night) and AppleScript Studio as Script Debugger's current competitors in the field. From version 1 on the program contained several notable features: it was "scriptable," (it could be used to create scripts to control itself), ''recordable'', (it could create scripts based on user actions), and ''attachable'', (scripts could be written to respond to

events Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of ev ...

). More importantly, Script Debugger now allowed inspection of running applications to see what events they were emitting. True to its name, the new utility also contained a full debugger, with support for

breakpoint In software development, a breakpoint is an intentional stopping or pausing place in a program, put in place for debugging purposes. It is also sometimes simply referred to as a pause. More generally, a breakpoint is a means of acquiring knowl ...

s. Script Debugger has since won many awards in the Macintosh scripting community. Version 1 received "5 mice" from

MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, ...

and 4 stars from

MacWEEK ''MacWEEK'' was a controlled-circulation weekly Apple Macintosh trade journal based in San Francisco founded by Michael Tchong, John Anderson, Glenn Patch, Dick Govatski, and Michael F. Billings. It featured a back-page rumor column penned by the ...

. Version 2 received the 2000

Macworld Eddy ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macint ...

for "Best Development Software", and received "4.5 mice" from both

and

Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macin ...

. On February 9, 2006, version 4 of Script Debugger was released. This version was completely rewritten to take full advantage of the new

Cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

and

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

APIs. The new release also included an improved version of the

JavaScript OSA JavaScript OSA, (originally ''JavaScript for OSA'', abbreviated as ''JSOSA''), is a freeware inter-process communication scripting language for the Macintosh computer. JavaScript OSA uses the "core language" of the Mozilla implementation of the Ja ...

scripting component. Version 5 of Script Debugger was released in June 2012. Version 6 of Script Debugger was released in June 2016, with support for new features such as

code folding Code or text folding, or less commonly holophrasting, is a feature of some graphical user interfaces that allows the user to selectively hide ("fold") or display ("unfold") parts of a document. This allows the user to manage large amounts of tex ...

and AppleScriptObjC. Version 7 of Script Debugger was released in March 2018, introducing the free "Lite" mode and new features such as version browsing, enhanced applets, better bundle editing.

References

External links

Script Debugger 7

AppleScript Editors
a comparison of several editors, out of date

a page of links to AppleScript utilities

a review of version 3.0.1
Macworld
another review Macintosh operating systems development MacOS programming tools {{mac-software-stub