What this book is

In Conquer your fear of coding with Praat scripting, we will first learn some basics of programming: variables, syntax, comments, loops, conditions… As soon as you are mentally ready, we will start building projects with real-life consequences. By the end of the manual, you will have built:

• unit converters (kilometers to miles, Hertz to Bark…);
• an educational tool for learning the first 100 digits of pi;
• a conjugator of French verbs (I am not kidding!);
• a subtitling application;
• a virtual mini piano and played the chorus of ‘Jingle Bells’;
• a ‘Find the difference’-type game;
• many other fun projects.

As you can see, you can use Praat to cover a wide range of fields.

No prior knowledge of programming is required. If you already know how to code, you can still give it a go just for the funny stories. It is a literary classic after all!

What this book isn’t

This is by no means an introduction to acoustics. And, in case you are wondering, Praat – or any programming language for that matter – cannot accomplish tasks requiring decision making; this is what ChatGPT is for. Programming means telling the machine what to do, not the other way around. If only I had a nickel for every time someone had told me “I want Praat to do this for me”, I would most definitely be sunbathing on my own private beach in the Bahamas right now.