Real Studio for Mac

User Reviews

• Excellent Cross-Platform Software Solution

  jason_adamsApril 30, 2011

  Pros

  - Easy to learn - Powerful, simple language - Single code source for Win / Mac / Linux builds - Decent price for various levels of use - Awesome user base forums with massive activity - Effortless to pick up, learn, and improve

  Cons

  It does have bugs, like any compiler. But very rarely are they game-breaking, and RS is constantly releasing new versions (usually 4-5 times per year) to fix reported bugs.

  Summary

  In the end Real Studio is an excellent cross-platform solution for anyone from hobbyist to professional looking for a great way to develop software. Honestly, even if it's only for a single platform, it's such a great way to develop software that I would buy the Standard (single-platform) licence (which is definitely affordable) and use it for that platform. Compared to alternative software compilers, it's the easiest to pick up and go with, and can accomplish the vast majority of projects. The language is a BASIC form, but don't let the name demean the product. It's truly a powerful language, fully object-oriented and event driven. There are excellent plugins out there to greatly expand the capability of the language, and if further platform-specific capabilities are needed the OS library can be accessed. This is generally for more advanced users, so beginners don't need to worry about it but experts have it if they want it. So my recommendation? Download it and give it a shot. The 30 day trial is more than enough time to get acquainted with the IDE and language. Also, during this time, join the forums and ask questions-the user base is large, active, and helpful. See you there!

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• Easy to use & Cross platfrom

  alesvsApril 30, 2011

  Pros

  - simple GUI - cross platform compiler - many features - helpful community

  Cons

  - some annoying bugs - some important features lacking - still quite small community, but growing

  Summary

  Perfect for anyone looking for a RAD tool that compiles cross platform.

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• Best Development Tool For Producing Cross Platform Apps

  KnightliteSoftwareApril 26, 2011

  Pros

  Ability to write powerful, professional, & aesthetically pleasing cross platform applications from a single source file, using a language that is easy to use & to understand. On-line forum of developers, who are always willing to help.

  Cons

  There has never been an application written that could not be improved, and that is why Real Software releases several updates throughout the year. They are constantly striving to improve their products.

  Summary

  I started in 1996 with VB 3.0., then switch later to VB 6.0. When 64 bit Windows came into use, I realized I had to make the jump to Visual Basic.Net. and would have to rewrite my apps from the ground up. Aside from the learning curve, in order to get any of my software to work, my customers would have to first download a 200 MB .Net framework file and 100 MB for the sql server. That was just ridicules. At the same time I was keeping my eye on the growth of Mac OSX, and many customers were asking for my software on that platform. I had to do something quick or go out of business. Real Studio saved the day. I could write cross platform applications that would work on both 64 bit Windows machines and on the Mac, without having to write two sets of code. The code will also work on Linux. I could take my programing skills learned from Visual Basic and immediately apply them to Real Studio. In only two short months my customers were beta testing my new apps written with Real Studio. The software is extremely intuitive. Everything is right in front of you. The Controls pane is on the left hand side of the screen. Properties are easily accessible from the Properties pane on the right hand side of the screen. The Window editing area sits right in the middle. If you need a button, drag it from the Controls pane on to the Window editing area. Double-click on the button and add your code. The Code windows and Window Editing areas are conveniently accessible from tabs on the Tabs bar. You can easily toggle back and forth from your window right to your code. The projects compile to a nice neat folder. There are no dll horrors or installing controls to the Windows System folder. There were no .Net headaches or huge files for the customer to download. On the Mac there was no need to learn Objective C, or XCode. Everything was done with Real Software. I cannot stress enough that providing a great developing tool is one thing, but offering a way for developers to quickly get help is extremely important to me. The Real Software user forums are terrific. You can post a question on the forum and you get an answer back in literally minutes, not hours, and not days. It is a friendly community of developers who are kind enough to share their expertise with those who are just starting out. The forum also provides a rich reference library that is fully searchable. Now with the ability to write Web Applications using the same easy-to-learn source code, Real Software offers a whole new opportunity for developers who can take their source code written for Windows, the Mac, and Linux and effortlessly port this code to a web application. You can write web apps that will work on the iPhone, Android, iPad and other wireless devices. If you want an easy-to-use development tool for quickly creating stable cross platform applications for Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and the Web, Real Software is the application you need. I really enjoy using this product and look forward to more enhancements in the future.

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• Well working always improving cross OS development tool

  Octopus_10x8April 23, 2011

  Pros

  Covering Mac, Linux and Windows and being a very mature RAD tool it creates really working applications in one single piece of executable. One could test its abilities before buying a version best matching own needs.

  Cons

  To finally cover several OSs there is a need to buy at least a mid-priced professional version. The few books on RB do not reflect all changes of the living RB language. Its abilities seem to grow faster than the eliminating of its few bugs proceeds.

  Summary

  Real Studio (REALbasic) supplies its users with the ability to create three OS covering applications from smaller up to higher complexity without the need to dive too deeply into the special features of the different operating systems. It avoids the need of bundling a lot of libraries beside of the final application, what other multi OS tools mostly do. The existing RB documentation already is helping a lot, but some more recent books on Real Studio (REALbasic) would help even more to detect all of its abilities and to make use of it.

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• Best RAD tool for MAC OSX that I have found

  Dave_SisemoreApril 23, 2011

  Pros

  Very powerful language tools, ability to create stable native applications, easy to learn, but not "basic", much much more than that. Great Object Oriented Programming (OOP) implementation (far easier than VB.NET, and just as powerful)

  Cons

  Documenation is complete, but with current version difficult to search due to their decision to switch from a searchable PDF to a wiki type format.

  Summary

  I have been using Realstudio since 2005, after switching from Windows to the Mac, and overall the experience has been quite positive. Their online forum is a fantastic source of help and information. And I would reccomend this product to anyone who is looking for a Rapid Application Development (RAD) too.

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• Build Web apps, Mac OS X apps, Windows apps with ease!

  polarbear2011April 19, 2011

  Pros

  True cross platform application development, Rapid Application Development environment, minimum time to market including application templating, design, develop, and deploy Web Applications using Real Studio. Very easy to learn.

  Cons

  With the pricing being reasonable according to the deployment option(s) you need, and with the Australian Dollar being so strong I can't even complain about the cost! So, no Cons here, just value for money.

  Summary

  A mature and rich feature development environment combined with excellent technical support from Real Software and the amazing community at large of developers, means that Real Studio has come of age - and at just the right time. Saving time and money by designing, developing, and deploying to Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and Web Apps means smart business sense. Offering a 30-Day trial means you actually have time to evaluate the product. I can't wait to see what's around the corner for Real Studio?!

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• To many bugs!

  NoAsciiApril 19, 2011

  Pros

  Easy to use.

  Cons

  To many bugs and limited controls like HTML Viewer, TextArea, Drawer Windows, Composite Windows .. ..

  Summary

  Coding for Mac .... Use Xcode

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• Great cross-platform OOP & RAD environment.

  RicounetDlrApril 19, 2011

  Pros

  Web applications and desktop app sharing almost the same code. Easy to use, fast learning curve and yet very powerful language. Proprietary bug report system called 'Feedback'. Real X-platform.

  Cons

  Even if the documentation is now in the form of a wiki, there still is a lot of room for improvements.

  Summary

  Try it !!! Web applications can share the same code as your desktop app if you dissociated your core functionality from the user interface. In this case you just need to write ( not rewrite ! ) the web interface and reuse your core framework as is.

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• Excellent cross-platform development tool.

  Jeff HendricksonApril 17, 2011

  Pros

  Great collection of built-in controls. Produces stable, reliable binaries. Great debugger.

  Cons

  The presentation of the documentation.

  Summary

  I've been using REALbasic since version 5.4. I use the pro version of this excellent development tool exclusively to develop my cross-platform commercial software products, including "Purify.", and am currently developing an RTS game exclusively in REALStudio. REALbasic offers a lot, and like anything else, you need to dig into it to discover its true capabilities. Technical support is great, and responsive. The online support community is great. The product has everything that you need to do real cross-platform product development. The only plugin that I've ever needed is the MySQL plugin for some of my Linux server based apps, which by the way works great. My primary development environment is OS X 10.4.11, on a dual PowerPC Mac with 1.5GB of RAM and a Cinema Display, and REALbasic is a pleasure to use in this environment. I also do a lot of development on a dual core Intel MacBook Pro. My recommendation, if you're looking for a powerful cross-platform development tool, look no further than REALbasic Pro.

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• Great for cross-platform and/or rapid deployment

  wbgookinApril 14, 2011

  Pros

  Easy to use for form design, rapid development. Fantastic for extending existing controls (oop), cross-platform uses native controls, mostly compatible with other Basic languages.

  Cons

  Some basic controls (like spreadsheet) are not included, so third-party or custom controls must be written. Documentation is difficult to navigate at times. Code samples can be buggy.

  Summary

  I've had none of the bad experiences some of the other reviewers have had. After using Visual Basic 6 for years after MS discontinued it (finally ditching it once I was having problems with Win7) I switched to Real Studio and began writing my Windows programs on the mac, which was very satisfying (ahh, no more MS). Any issues I've had have been resolved on the Real forums or mailing lists, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for cross-platform development, or for those who want to get up and running quickly. It's easy to use (and learn), the object-oriented stuff is great, and overall it's a pleasure to work with.

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