AUSTIN, Texas, February 11 /PRNewswire/ --

- Development language supports Introspection, delivering on the most requested enhancement from users

REAL Software, maker of REALbasic, a cross-platform development environment for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux developers, has begun shipping REALbasic 2008 Release 1. The latest version includes introspection, which has been most highly requested feature from the user community in recent years.

"Adding introspection to our object-oriented language provides developers with a powerful tool," stated Geoff Perlman, President and CEO of REAL Software. "With this new capability our users will be more productive and their applications will be more dynamic and adaptable."

Introspection provides the ability to determine the type and characteristics of an object at runtime. Properties and methods can be accessed in a generic way without having to know the specific type of that object before the code is compiled. This capability allows for more advanced dynamic programming techniques to be used in REALbasic applications.

"Introspection is a powerful addition to the REALbasic language," commented Charles Yeomans, a contractor working for Dakim. "I write a lot of database-related code, and introspection is going to make my job easier."

The release also contains 39 minor improvements and two additional language features. Variants can now contain array values, and there is programmer control over interface method implementation linkage.

The complete list of the improvements in REALbasic 2008 Release 1 can be found in the release notes in the product download, http://www.realsoftware.com/download.

About REALbasic

REALbasic is a full-featured software development environment suited to creating a wide range of applications, from utilities to enterprise-class applications. REALbasic Personal (formerly Standard) Edition for Windows or Mac is priced at US$100. REALbasic for Linux Personal Edition is offered for free. REALbasic Professional Edition, required for cross-platform deployment, is US$500. All versions of REALbasic are available now and can be downloaded directly from REAL Software at http://www.realsoftware.com/download.

About REAL Software

REAL Software provides REALbasic and REAL SQL Server for developers who want to create and deliver cross-platform software for Windows, Macintosh and Linux. REALbasic is highly compatible with Visual Basic and includes a utility to assist in migrating Visual Basic applications cross-platform to Macintosh and Linux. REAL Software was founded in 1996 and is based in Austin, Texas. For more information visit: http://www.realsoftware.com or call +1-512-328-7325.

Web site: http://www.realsoftware.com

Dana Mason, Director of Marketing of REAL Software, +1-512-328-7325, ext. 712, dana@realsoftware.com