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Software development has changed dramatically since the late 1980s. A new kind of development environment — the High-Level Development (HLD) tool — has exploded in popularity, and with good reason. The best of these tools significantly ease the learning curve for new developers, dramatically improve developer efficiency, and radically reduce cost and time-to-develop. This white paper evaluates two new HLD environments: REALbasic, and Revolution.
REALbasic1
REALbasic runs on the Macintosh, but creates applications for Macintosh and Windows PCs. REALbasic’s similarity to Visual Basic benefits ex-VB developers. REALbasic’s strict object-oriented scheme, C-like syntax, and strong variable typing may appeal to those with formal development training, but make development more complex for the beginner. REALbasic offers built-in database functionality and connectivity to a range of external databases. It also includes a sprite engine and has strong Macintosh integration.
REALbasic runs on Mac OS X or classic Mac OS. The REALbasic development environment itself is a Macintosh-only application; Windows debugging must be done remotely, significantly increasing the effort required.
REAL Software releases beta versions at a considerable pace. This keeps developers abreast of upcoming REALbasic features, but sometimes leads developers to use beta versions as if they were release versions, drawing little distinction between the two.
Revolution2
Revolution runs on the Macintosh, Windows, Linux, and other popular Unix flavors. Mac OS X compatibility and database connectivity are also scheduled for Q3 2001. Development on any platform can target any platform. Revolution is new, but based on proven technology.
Revolution targets more platforms, and allows development on all the platforms it targets, making debugging on multiple platforms easier. Revolution code is written in Transcript, an English-like high-level language. Revolution’s development environment is more flexible and user-friendly. Developers can add to or modify the environment directly, leveraging their effort. Revolution projects run “live,” allowing modification and debugging of code as the project runs, for faster development.
Revolution’s release schedule is aggressive, but betas and release versions are more clearly defined.
Development Comparison
Identical sample applications were created in both environments. The Revolution version of the application took half as much code to create, half as much time to develop, and was easier to debug.
Conclusion
Both environments offer fast development while producing professional applications. Macintosh developers with Visual Basic experience, those developing strongly database-oriented applications, and those with existing object-oriented design skills will appreciate REALbasic. However, its similarities to more traditional, lower-level programming environments such as Java and C++ weaken its case as a high-level development tool. Beginning developers, those seeking greater development efficiency, and those needing stronger cross-platform capabilities, especially for the Linux and Unix platforms, will prefer Revolution. |
