Rev IDE vs MetaCard IDE

J. Landman Gay jacque at hyperactivesw.com
Sat Dec 12 21:14:26 EST 2009


Len Morgan wrote:
> Can someone give me a quick summary of why I might want to use the 
> MetaCard IDE instead
> of  RunRev's?  It seems that a lot of users of this group use MC.  Is it 
> just what you were used
> to or is there some feature that Rev's doesn't?
> 
> Just curious.

I think "a lot of users" may be stretching it. :) There are a few of us. 
I alternate between the IDEs depending on what I want to do, though I 
spend most of my time in Rev.

It isn't that MC has features that Rev is missing, it's the opposite. I 
use it for what it doesn't do. MC is a stripped-down, bare-bones IDE 
with a minimal UI. You have to know the engine to know what's available. 
Lots of what you do will be from the command line unless you make your 
own tools for it. It's easy to see that the original was built by a 'nix 
guy.

In MC you are dealing almost directly with the engine itself. That can 
be a plus when you don't want an IDE in the way. (There is no "suspend 
development tools" in MC because you're so close to the engine already 
that it isn't really necessary.) I use MC exclusively for some of my 
utility stacks, because it doesn't track the saved state the way Rev 
does. Putting text into a field doesn't make the stack "dirty". I can 
grab data from a server, read it, and close the stack without seeing the 
"do you want to save?" dialog. I like that, though of course Rev can't 
do the same. Rev protects you more.

Maybe MC appeals to the same kind of person who likes to drive a car 
with a stick shift. Close to the road, lots of power, no frills, full 
control. No seat belts either. ;)

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com



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