Danny Goodman is a computer programmer, technology consultant, and an author of over three dozen books and hundreds of magazine articles on computer-related topics. He is best known as the author of ''The Complete

HyperCard HyperCard is a software application and development kit for Apple Macintosh and Apple IIGS computers. It is among the first successful hypermedia systems predating the World Wide Web. HyperCard combines a flat-file database with a graphical, f ...

Handbook'' (1987, Bantam Books, 650,000 copies in print), ''The

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, of ...

Bible'' (1996,

IDG Books International Data Group (IDG, Inc.) is a market intelligence and demand generation company focused on the technology industry. IDG, Inc.’s mission is centered around supporting the technology industry through research, data, marketing technol ...

, 500,000 copies in print), and ''Dynamic HTML'' (1998,

O'Reilly & Associates O'Reilly Media (formerly O'Reilly & Associates) is an American learning company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books, produces tech conferences, and provides an online learning platform. Its distinctive brand features a woodcut of a ...

, 100,000 copies in print). His ''The Complete AppleScript Handbook'' (1993,

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

) is also notable as an important early work on the AppleScript programming language. Goodman began writing about

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

and computers in the late 1970s, and became a full-time author in 1981. In 1987, the first edition of the highly acclaimed ''The Complete HyperCard Handbook'' was published. This influential work was once cited as being "the best selling

Macintosh 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 ...

book and fastest selling computer book in history". Having received critical acclaim with his

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', August 4, 1992. Retrieved November 16, 2013 especially on scripting via

and

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 ...

, he turned his attention to the new scripting language of the Internet,

, and related technologies such as

HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaSc ...

and Cascading Style Sheets. His articles on the websites of Netscape, Apple Computer, and O'Reilly Media have been popular and noted for being accessible to both experts and non-professionals. In particular, his better known works have covered important techniques for achieving compatible cross-browser scripting solutions, dealing with the many differences of the major browsers

Netscape Navigator Netscape Navigator was a web browser, and the original browser of the Netscape line, from versions 1 to 4.08, and 9.x. It was the flagship product of the Netscape Communications Corp and was the dominant web browser in terms of usage share in ...

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Windows line of operating systems ( ...

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, Safari and others; as well as discussing

cross-platform In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software ...

issues involving the Macintosh,

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

, and

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...

environments. Goodman has written a few apps for the iPhone, namely iFeltThat (earthquake maps) and BeaconAid-HF (for radio frequency monitoring). Goodman was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and moved to San Francisco in 1983. He has a BA and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

Awards

* Computer Press Association Book Awards: ** Best Product Specific Book (1987): ''The Complete HyperCard Handbook'' (1987, Bantam Books) ** Best Product Specific Book (1988): ''Danny Goodman's HyperCard Developer's Guide'' (1988, Bantam Books) ** Best Introductory How-To Book, Systems (1992): ''Danny Goodman's Macintosh Handbook'' (1992, Bantam Books) * Software Publishers Association Awards: ** Best Utility (1987): ''Focal Point'' (1987, Activision) ** Best Add-On (1987): ''Focal Point'' (1987, Activision) ** Best User Interface (1987): ''Business Class'' (1987, Activision)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Danny American technology writers Writers from California University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni O'Reilly writers American computer programmers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)