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• Saturday, September 16, 2006 02:13 PM

  It's out there...

  There is a way for kids -- or interested adults -- to get this kind of entry-level exposure to programming. Check out Runtime Revolution. It's an x-talk scripting environment that allows the user to create applications (complete with nice-looking GUI elements) of their own with a scripting language that is quite intuitive. Project development can be very rapid, as you can script and test and re-script and re-test very easily in an integrated development environment. A simple app can be created in a few minutes, even by a newbie, and very complex apps that manipulate text, databases, images, sounds, and movies are possible for more sophisticated users. A growing number of professional programmers are using it to develop solutions commercially.

  Even an interested amateur like me can do amazing things: I have developed an app that allows me to track patients and their medications, write prescriptions, enter and print a formatted note, etc. -- a click of a button and I can open a pre-formatted letter template addressed to the patient, export the current meds list, check drug interactions, view past meds prescribed, check a website for a formulary list, count the number of patients currently on a particular medication and so forth.

  Revolution is available for the Mac OSX and for Windows and Linux.

  Note: I have no ties with Revolution and own no stock -- I have no axe to grind. I'm just an enthusiastic user. More people should know about this.

  —Peter M. Brigham, MD
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