This latest release of REALbasic is now available to download.  It’s primarily a bug fix release, but does add a significant new feature: delegatesFrom the Press Release:
Delegates:Â New delegate datatype provides an abstract representation of a method, allowing variable implementation of a specific invocation. Â Â Â Â
And from the Language Reference:Â
Delegate Data Type  Â
A Delegate data type is an object representing a specific method. Delegates decouple interface from implementation in a similar way to events or interfaces. This decoupling allows you to treat a method implementation as a variable that is changeable based on run-time conditions. They represent methods that are callable without knowledge of the target object. You can change the function the delegate points to on the fly. A Delegate can be created only in a module. You use the Add Delegate menu command or the Add Delegate button in the module’s Code Editor to create a Delegate.
Notes
A Delegate is a function pointer with a method signature. It has a single method, “Invoke,†whose parameters and return value match the Delegate’s parameters and return type. The Invoke method calls the method the delegate instance represents. While delegates are objects, you cannot create a subclass of a delegate type.
This is quite a powerful feature and is just another thing to show that REALbasic is a professional development environment.
5 Responses to “REALbasic 2007 Release 4 Now Available”
I’ll give it until Wednesday before the “RB has too many bugs” thread starts in the RB Forums. It always happens.
A hundred bug fixes and a handful of new features just isn’t enough to satisfy the nay sayers. If they talk about the problems with the Rapid Release program that’s a different issue…..
Bob,
I think you’re being overly generous. Actually in looking at the forums, I see lots of kvetching going on now.
I’ll update my plan once RB settles down so I am quiet happy to see 100 bug fixes and a few features.
I’ve been using Visual Studio 2005 for months now and the bugs are minimal so I am also in a position where I can wait.
One of the things I watch for is ‘bug noise’ after a release. Things like http://forums.realsoftware.com/viewtopic.php?t=16190 just keep me waiting.
Keith,
I agree, VS2005 SP1 is very solid.
I find the Mac OS X version of RB to be very solid. Apparently the Windows version is not as stable, but then some might say that about Windows itself
I don’t use the Windows IDE as much, so I haven’t noticed I guess.
I think the whole process might be smoother if RS would do a bug fix release a couple of weeks after the main release. If R4 causes a bug that bites me I’ll be clamoring for a fix now because I can’t wait 3 months for the fix. I think that’s the part that sticks in everyone’s craw.
In fact, new features should be released every 3 months, but a bug fix release should occur every month or so. It’s an IDE not a drawing program. A bug that causes problems (or even annoyances) should be fixed sooner than 3 months.
FWIW, I’m starting to change my opinion on this. I was mostly happy with the Rapid Release model but I think that was mostly because I was able to work around the bugs that affected me.
In reality the IDE is the foundation for a lot of stuff being built upon it. If the foundation has a leak it has to be fixed sooner rather than later. And THAT is why people are so ticked at the 30 day policy.
Think about the stupidity of new RTF methods for editfields. It’s now the 2nd(?) release of them and they’re still unusable. So it’ll be another 3 months before anyone can even think about using them. How awful is that?