The Howdy Glossary

NewtonScript was a specialized programming language developed by Walter Smith at Apple Inc. for the Apple Newton platform during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It supported object-oriented programming and featured a dynamic type system optimized for mobile devices, facilitating pen-based interaction on early personal digital assistants (PDAs). Its primary goal was to enable efficient application development tailored to handheld devices, significantly impacting future languages designed for similar platforms.

The language's unique aspects included its support for object-oriented programming, allowing developers to model real-world concepts through classes and objects. Its dynamic type system offered flexibility in changing variable types during runtime, making it adaptable for various mobile inputs and data types of its era. NewtonScript distinguished itself by focusing on pen-based interactions, thereby setting a precedent for intuitive user experiences on handheld devices.

Despite facing competition from other programming languages like C and C++, as well as development platforms such as Palm OS, NewtonScript carved out a niche due to its specialized features. It catered specifically to the requirements of early PDAs with its optimization for mobile functionalities and user-friendly interfaces. These competitive advantages helped position NewtonScript as an influential language in advancing mobile computing capabilities and shaping subsequent developments in software applications for handheld devices.