ion of CodeWarrior. This w
ill let you build 32-bit Windows and Mac applications from the PC side of the world. Other development kits (such as for the Pilot) will appear on the PC as well.
Metrowerks' core technologies are its compilers, linkers, and debuggers. However, the CodeWarrior integrated development environment (IDE) is just as important. Metrowerks has built an extensible IDE, with plug-in compilers, linkers, and pre- and postprocessors. The company provides the API for this IDE as part of the standard development kit. Compiler (and linker) writers who deliver tools as plug-ins to the IDE are able to leverage those powerful core capabilities.
There are, however, some rough spots. Even Metrowerks has not moved all its compilers into the IDE. For example, both the Pilot and the Magic Cap development cycles require that the final product build (the build downloaded to the target hardware) be performed using Apple's MPW command-line environment and a custom Metrowerks compiler. Granted, you can automate
this build from within the Metrowerks IDE, but I find having to switch in and out of the IDE during development unsatisfactory.
Pilot Development
I spent some time with Metrowerks' Magic Cap and Pilot development environments. Aside from Magic Cap being based on C++ and the Pilot being based on C, they are fairly similar environments. Both let you link your applications into a simulated environment that runs native on the Mac. Both need a final compile and link phase to be run through MPW. Both let you remotely debug your application on the target hardware.
The simulators permit Metrowerks to leverage the wide assortment of Macintosh development tools. For example, while working on a Pilot application, I can use Jasik's The Debugger and Onyx Technology's QC quality-control tester.
The Wise Route
With the exception of Java, Metrowerks is not attempting to build tools that allow cross-platform application development (that is, a single source-code base simpl
y recompiled for Windows, Mac, etc.). CW10, for example, supports Metrowerks' PowerPlant C++ framework on the Mac and Microsoft Foundation Classes on Windows. Instead, Metrowerks is taking the wise route of providing a core IDE onto which new tools can be grafted, setting the stage for what could be the next standard in development environments.
Product Information
CodeWarrior 10.......................$399
(for 68K or PowerPC Macintoshes;
System 7.1 or later required;
16 MB of RAM recommended)
Metrowerks Corp.
Austin, Texas
Phone: (512) 873-4700
Fax: (512) 873-4900
E-mail:
sales@metrowerks.com
Internet:
http://www.metrowerks.com
Circle 1001 on Inquiry Card.
Multiplatform CodeWarrior
