REAL Software Ships REALbasic 1.0
Easy-to-Use Application Development Software Features Visual Basic CompatibilityAUSTIN, Texas (July 14, 1998)— REAL Software, Inc. today announced REALbasic for Mac OS is shipping and is priced at $99.95.
REALbasic is the easy-to-use integrated development environment (IDE) that enables users of all levels to create powerful stand-alone, native 68k and PowerPC applications quickly and easily, without having to learn a complex programming language such as C++ or the details of the Macintosh Toolbox. REALbasic enables users to create the entire user interface for their applications in minutes without any programming. Its programming language is an object-oriented version of the BASIC programming language and is highly compatible with Microsoft’s Visual Basic.
“REALbasic is the only integrated development environment available for Macintosh that delivers exactly what users want in a software development tool: easy-to-use interface building with a simple, yet modern and powerful programming language that anyone can learn,” said REAL Software president Geoff Perlman.
REALbasic’s drag and drop interface builder makes it so easy to create a user interface that most users are testing their interface in minutes. In addition, because most of the interface is handled automatically, users can focus their programming efforts on solving their problems rather than programming the interface. REALbasic’s interface builder includes edit fields, popup menus, hierarchical MacOS8-style list boxes, a QuickTime movie player, checkboxes, radio buttons, tab panels, contextual menus, balloon help and more. REALbasic’s Interface Assistant helps users to create an interface that follows Apple’s Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines. Applications created with REALbasic are automatically Appearance Manager compliant allowing them to take on whatever appearance the user has chosen if they are running the Kaleidoscope extension.
“Visual Basic is an extremely popular software development package for Windows but we didn’t have anything like it available for the Macintosh. That’s why we created REALbasic,” said Andrew Barry, REAL Software’s Chief of Development.
REALbasic supports Macintosh technologies such as QuickTime, QuickTime Musical Instruments, drag and drop, and AppleScript. It also supports HyperCard’s XCMD and XFCN plug-in format allowing users to utilize the thousands of existing plug-ins. REALbasic includes a TCP/IP control for Internet connectivity, a serial tool for modem communications and a sprite engine for creating animation.
REALbasic’s Code Editor provides a hierarchical view of all of the interface objects and their methods to make moving between objects fast. As the user types, the Code Editor will attempt to guess what the user is typing. The user can press the Tab key and let REALbasic automatically complete the code for them, or just keep typing. The Code Editor also automatically indents code, displays keywords in blue and comments in red. The Code Editor also doubles as REALbasic’s debugger, which supports breakpoints, automatic variable lists and a stack view.
REALbasic’s object-oriented BASIC language supports object events, properties, methods, classes, inheritance and polymorphism. It is also a strongly typed language, which makes applications more reliable. Memory management is handled automatically through garbage collection and the advanced, dynamic recompiler makes testing applications and building stand-alone applications fast because all of the code doesn't have to be recompiled every time.
Unlike most BASIC programming environments, REALbasic has no interpreter. Code is always running compiled even when the user is stepping through code with the debugger. Stand-alone applications carry a small footprint for both disk and memory usage. The runtime engine overhead is approximate 150K of disk space and most applications built with REALbasic will require only 1 MB of memory or less.
Designed for compatibility with Microsoft’s Visual Basic for Windows in mind, REALbasic’s language is so similar, that many users with Visual Basic projects can port them to the Macintosh using REALbasic with a minimum number of changes. Visual Basic forms can be imported into REALbasic projects by simply dragging them into REALbasic’s Project window. Because the user does not have to directly deal with the Macintosh toolbox, building cross-platform applications is easy.
Users that need to access the Macintosh toolbox can do so by writing XCMDs or using REALbasic’s plug-in format. REALbasic’s architecture allows additional compilers to be added easily. Windows and Java compilers are scheduled for later this year. BeOS and Palm Pilot compilers are also being considered.
“Cross-platform development is what our users are demanding. We are committed to meeting that demand,” said REAL Software president Geoff Perlman. “REALbasic is already over 90% Carbon compatible and will be 100% compatible with Mac OS X when Apple ships the new OS next year.”
The enhanced edition of REALbasic (scheduled for later this year) will include (in addition to the Windows build option): a database layer for use with an included single-user SQL database engine or backend SQL database like Oracle to meet the demands of enterprise customers.
REALbasic is available for download now from REAL Software’s web site at www.realsoftware.com. REALbasic can be purchased directly from REAL Software for $99.95. Academic pricing is also available. REALbasic can be ordered directly from REAL Software’s web site at www.realsoftware.com; by phone at 512-292-9988; by fax at 512-292-6670; or sales@realsoftware.com.
REALbasic requires a Macintosh, Power Macintosh, or compatible computer with a 68020 processor or higher; 2.5 MB RAM; System 7.1 or later; and 80 MB of free hard disk space for full installation of the software, documentation and examples. REALbasic ships in CD-ROM format, requiring a CD-ROM drive and can be downloaded from REAL Software’s web site. REAL Software offers disk fulfillment for an additional charge.
About REAL Software
For everyone who seeks the flexibility to create their own software, REAL Software provides REALbasic, a powerful, easy-to-use software development tool for Windows and Macintosh. REAL Software, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Austin, Texas. For more information visit www.realsoftware.com or call 512.328.7325.
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©2005 REAL Software, Incorporated. REAL Software, REALbasic and the REAL Software cube logo are registered trademarks of REAL Software, Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders in the United States and other countries.