Revolution is a software development environment/multimedia authoring software in the tradition of HyperCard and is based on the

MetaCard MetaCard is a discontinued cross-platform, commercial HyperCard clone. MetaCard included an IDE, a GUI toolkit and had its own language, MetaTalk. From the MetaCard Corporation website: "The MetaTalk language has all the features common to third-ge ...

engine. Its primary focus is on providing a relatively accessible development tool set and

scripting language A scripting language or script language is a programming language that is used to manipulate, customize, and automate the facilities of an existing system. Scripting languages are usually interpreted at runtime rather than compiled. A scripting ...

that enable the creation of software programs that run across multiple platforms with little or no code modifications. The

Integrated Development Environment An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools a ...

(IDE) included with Revolution is built partly on the models created by Bill Atkinson and the original HyperCard team at

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

and subsequently followed by many other software development products, such as

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Visual Basic Visual Basic is a name for a family of programming languages from Microsoft. It may refer to: * Visual Basic .NET (now simply referred to as "Visual Basic"), the current version of Visual Basic launched in 2002 which runs on .NET * Visual Basic (cl ...

. Revolution includes an English language-like scripting language called Transcript, a full programming language superset of the HyperCard's scripting language,

HyperTalk HyperTalk is a discontinued high-level, procedural programming language created in 1987 by Dan Winkler and used in conjunction with Apple Computer's HyperCard hypermedia program by Bill Atkinson. Because the main target audience of HyperTalk ...

. The higher-grade versions (see Versions, below), allow applications to be compiled to run on more than one platform, including

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

(Classic or

Mac OS 9 Mac OS 9 is the ninth major release of Apple Inc., Apple's classic Mac OS operating system which was succeeded by macOS, Mac OS X (renamed to OS X in 2011 and macOS in 2016) in 2001. Introduced on October 23, 1999, it was promoted by Apple as "T ...

, and

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

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 serv ...

and

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...

systems including

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

. It can also import HyperCard stacks, which require little or no modification unless they use external functions, which generally do not work in Revolution. Revolution is designed to be an environment where non-programmers feel at ease and programmers feel not too uncomfortable (after getting used to "non-traditional" programming syntax). Like any programming language or development environment, opinions as to the degree to which those aims have been achieved vary greatly.

Versions

Before Revolution 2, the "Starter Kit" version was available. This was freeware and imposed restrictions on the user, such as not allowing scripts longer than ten lines to be compiled. However, this has since been discontinued and is no longer available for download. The "Dreamcard" version is intended for home users/hobbyists. Applications (called "stacks") built using it require either the "Dreamcard Player" or a full copy of Revolution to run because Dreamcard does not include the Revolution compiler. The "Studio" version is more powerful, and is useful in creating professional binary applications. The Enterprise version is probably too expensive for casual users, but when compared to other similar products such as Borland Delphi or

Kylix In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix ( , ; grc, κύλιξ, pl. κύλικες; also spelled cylix; pl.: kylikes , ) is the most common type of wine-drinking cup. It has a broad, relatively shallow, body raised on a stem from a foot ...

, is priced competitively. If one wishes to develop programs on non-Microsoft platforms for cross-platform deployment, Revolution is one of a small handful of commercially supported options.

Compatibility

Revolution is derived from MetaCard's engine, so MetaCard stacks are 100% compatible with Revolution. However, the other way around is not necessarily true. HyperCard stacks can be run, but externals will only run on Macs. SuperCard stacks must be run through a converter to be upgraded to Revolution/MetaCard format.

Platforms

Revolution runs on Mac Classic, Mac OS X, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP, and the following UNIX variants: *

FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based on Research Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular ...

or BSD/OS *

HP-UX HP-UX (from "Hewlett Packard Unix") is Hewlett Packard Enterprise's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on Unix System V (initially System III) and first released in 1984. Current versions support HPE Integrity Ser ...

10.20 or later *

SGI SGI may refer to: Companies *Saskatchewan Government Insurance *Scientific Games International, a gambling company *Silicon Graphics, Inc., a former manufacturer of high-performance computing products *Silicon Graphics International, formerly Rac ...

IRIX IRIX ( ) is a discontinued operating system developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) to run on the company's proprietary MIPS workstations and servers. It is based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. In IRIX, SGI originated the XFS file system and ...

5.3 or later *

Intel 1.2.13 ELF or later *

AIX Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set *Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belgium ...

3.2.3 or later *

Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...

(2.5 or later for

SPARC SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Its design was strongly influenced by the experimental Berkeley RISC system developed ...

and

x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...

; 2.3 and 2.4 SPARC only) *

SunOS SunOS is a Unix-branded operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The ''SunOS'' name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4, which were based on BSD, while versions 5.0 and l ...

4.1.x or later Standalone applications written in Revolution can run on the above, as well as Windows 3.1 (with limitations). As of March 2005, the Dreamcard Player runs only on Windows, Mac OS (Classic or X), and Linux.

Interface

On Linux, the user's

GNOME A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

/ Xfce/GTK+ theme will be used if

GTK+ GTK (formerly GIMP ToolKit and GTK+) is a free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing both free and proprie ...

is installed, otherwise, a

Motif Motif may refer to: General concepts * Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of its purpose * Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions * Moti ...

look will be used. On the Mac,

Appearance Manager The Appearance Manager is a component of Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9 that controls the overall look of the Macintosh graphical user interface widgets and supports several themes. It was originally developed for Apple Computer, Apple's ill-fated Copla ...

will be used if available, otherwise the

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

look will be used. On Windows, the XP theme or standard widgets will be used. Users can preview the Motif, Platinum, and Windows appearance on any platform.

Revolution community

There are many companies and groups which use the Revolution engine. It is mainly used by freelance programmers to make small widgets or libraries, but as one example is used exclusively by the

Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center The Christa McAuliffe Space Center (known as the McAuliffe Space Center or CMSC), in Pleasant Grove, Utah, teaches school children about space and is visited by students from around the world. It has a number of space flight simulators. The cen ...

.{{citation needed, date=November 2018

External links

Web site
Dynamic programming languages Dynamically typed programming languages Scripting languages