Alpha Brings Rapid Application Development to Web 2.0.Alpha Five An application development and database management system (DBMS) for Windows from Alpha Software, Inc., Burlington, MA (www.alphasoftware.com). Noted for its ease of use and rapid application building, Alpha Five provides high-level, predefined scripts for creating desktop and Web-based Version 8 Revolutionizes Development of Web 2.0 and Enterprise Solutions with a Breakthrough RAD IDE, 'Portable SQL', Dynamic Reporting, and a Turn-Key Security Framework That Makes Building and Maintaining Modern Apps a Breeze! BURLINGTON, Mass. -- Step aside, .NET. Move over, Java. Make way Perl, Python Python, in Greek mythology Python, in Greek mythology, a huge serpent. In some myths the infant Apollo slew Python at the oracle of Gaea in Delphi; in others Apollo killed the serpent in order to claim the oracle for himself. , PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) A scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. With syntax from C, Java and Perl, PHP code is embedded within HTML pages for server side execution. , and Ruby. Today legions of professional and enterprise developers, frustrated with a patchwork of complex and convoluted convoluted /con·vo·lut·ed/ (kon?vo-lldbomact´ed) rolled together or coiled. approaches to building Web 2.0 apps and software services get a smarter, faster, easier way to work. The breakthrough: Alpha Software's new Alpha Five Version 8, the world's first rapid application development platform for the next-generation of Web developers. Unveiled today, Alpha Five Version 8 gives programmers, power users, consultants, ISVs, and IT shops alike a powerful, unified, end-to-end development environment unsurpassed in its ability to generate robust, scalable, portable applications that target virtually every major platform -- including Web 2.0, SaaS (software as a service), distributed enterprise, client-server, SQL SQL in full Structured Query Language. Computer programming language used for retrieving records or parts of records in databases and performing various calculations before displaying the results. database, and the Windows desktop. "Companies want to build Web applications and services, but as they get into it, they realize it's much more expensive and time consuming than they initially imagined," says Richard Rabins, Co Chairman of Alpha Software Inc., in Burlington, Mass. "The existing languages and tools are complex, time-consuming, and surprisingly hard to debug To correct a problem in hardware or software. Debugging software means locating the errors in the source code (the program logic). Debugging hardware means finding errors in the circuit design (logical circuits) or in the physical interconnections of the circuits. and maintain. We've created a platform that lets people rapidly build professional, secure, great-looking Web 2.0 apps with fully-formatted reporting that work with any SQL database -- from the desktop to the data center -- and are easy to update and maintain. We have delivered the first true RAD platform for Web 2.0." Many programming environments promise developers higher productivity, and robust database applications. Alpha Five Version 8 delivers on that promise, through four breakthrough technology pillars -- speed of development, portability, reporting, and security -- one of which, 'Portable SQL', is truly historic in its proportions and potential industry impact. * SPEED: Rapid Application Development (RAD) that dramatically speeds time-to-market of Web 2.0 and SaaS solutions. RAD was the rage during the client-server era, and established a benchmark for how easily applications could be built. But the emergence of the Web as an application platform sent programming's state-of-the-art back 20 years. Programmers were again relegated to building applications using line editors. Applications devolved into an insecure hodgepodge hodge·podge n. A mixture of dissimilar ingredients; a jumble. [Alteration of Middle English hochepot, from Old French, stew; see hotchpot. of scripting and programming languages, because no single tool supported the Web's myriad tiers. Alpha Five Version 8 ends this unholy mess by bringing RAD to the Web 2.0 era. It rolls the XBASIC language, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Pronounced "wiz-ee-wig." It refers to displaying text and graphics on screen the same as they will print on paper or display on a Web page. GUI (Graphical User Interface) A graphics-based user interface that incorporates movable windows, icons and a mouse. The ability to resize application windows and change style and size of fonts are the significant advantages of a GUI vs. a character-based interface. design, blazing fast programming speed, easy debugging (programming) debugging - The process of attempting to determine the cause of the symptoms of malfunctions in a program or other system. These symptoms may be detected during testing or use by real users. , bulletproof Refers to extremely stable hardware and/or software that cannot be brought down no matter what unusual conditions arise. See industrial strength. bulletproof - Used of an algorithm or implementation considered extremely robust; lossage-resistant; capable of correctly security, and highly evolved database reporting into a single integrated development environment See IDE. integrated development environment - interactive development environment (IDE) that makes programmers far more productive. Alpha Five Version 8 is the one tool that can do it all! * PORTABILITY: Portable SQL, a true industry breakthrough that allows SQL source code to work with any enterprise database -- unchanged! Alpha Five Version 8 introduces Portable SQL, a standards-compliant SQL implementation that enables database developers to build once, and deploy anywhere -- without having to change one line of their SQL code. For the first time in computing history, developers, consultants, ISVs, solution providers, and enterprise IT teams can migrate from one SQL database to another with virtually no code changes, dramatically boosting application ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot). . Portable SQL automatically adapts its syntax to the database it connects to, including Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server A relational DBMS from Microsoft that is a major component of the Windows Server System. It is Microsoft's high-end client/server database and is closely integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio and the Microsoft Office System. , IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) DB2, InterSystems' Cache, and even Microsoft Access A database program for Windows, available separately or included in the Microsoft Office suite. Access is programmable using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Access can read Paradox, dBASE and Btrieve files, and using ODBC, Microsoft SQL Server, SYBASE SQL Server and Oracle data. and Excel! * REPORTING: An integrated Report Builder that makes querying and publishing sophisticated reports on the Web push-button (electronics) push-button - A roughly fingertip-sized plastic cover attached to a spring-loaded, normally-open switch, which, when pressed, closes the switch. Typical examples are the keys on a computer or calculator keyboard and mouse buttons. easy. There's never been a database application built that didn't need reporting. Yet virtually no popular programming platform provides rich reporting tools. Instead, programmers manually code reports, use costly third-party add-ins, or settle for ugly tabular output reminiscent of the mainframe era. That all ends today with Alpha Five Version 8, and its seamlessly integrated Report Builder which generates crisp, stylish reports that bring data to life, and put it on the Web. * SECURITY: A comprehensive Web Security Framework protects applications and data from unauthorized access. Embedded into the RAD platform, Alpha Five's new Web Security Framework makes defining and managing application access painless for developers and administrators alike. Access rights can be set for users, groups, and even individual pages, using a graphical Security Settings control panel. No coding is required. Rights are then used by Alpha Five to determine what parts of an application people or processes are permitted to see. Rights can also be set to allow or prevent data from being viewed, entered, or changed. Alpha Five's Web Security Framework even handles administrative details automatically, such e-mailing lost user names or passwords to users. And the RAD platform's Login Signing in and gaining access to a network server, Web server or other computer system. The process (the noun) is a "login" or "logon," while the act of doing it (the verb) is to "log in" or to "log on. Component Builder automatically generates the required program source code to create login dialogs. That's just for starters. Alpha Five Version 8 is the most extensive upgrade in Alpha Software's 25 year history. Over 1,000 new features and technologies have been developed, tested, integrated, and brought to market in order to establish Alpha Five Version 8 as the world's first end-to-end RAD IDE for the Web 2.0 era. A complete list of Alpha Five Version 8's features is available to the media at http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/. Customer testimonials, customer and analyst references, a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) A group of commonly asked questions about a subject along with the answers. Vendors often display them on their Web sites for use as troubleshooting guidelines. , and more press resources are also available to the media on demand. "From the desktop to the data center to World Wide Web, Alpha Five Version 8 is the one tool that can do it all, and make it all seem easy," says Selwyn Rabins, Co-Chairman of Alpha Software, and the creative force behind the company's dedicated team of programmers who brought Alpha Five Version 8 from vision to reality. "Our vision has always been to empower more developers to do more things for more people, using one simple yet powerful tool. With the debut of Alpha Five Version 8, we have fully realized that vision, to the great benefit of developers everywhere. Now no developer will have to struggle to keep up with Web 2.0. All they need is Alpha Five!" PRICING & AVAILABILITY All Alpha Five Version 8 products are available now. Fully-functional trial versions can be downloaded at http://alphasoftware.com/trial/. Alpha Five Version 8 Professional Edition retails for $249. Upgrades for registered users cost $179. Alpha Five Version 8 Enterprise Edition is $349, or $249 for upgrades. Alpha Five Application Server Basic is $499, or $299 for upgrades. Alpha Five Application Server Enterprise is $699, or 499 for upgrades. The Alpha Five Version 8 runtime starts at $499, or $399 as an upgrade. A complete product and feature comparison is available at http://www.alphasoftware.com/products/. ABOUT ALPHA SOFTWARE INC. Since 1982, Alpha Software has been providing developers of all experience levels with award-winning tools and technologies that make it easy to rapidly build robust database and business applications. Today over one million developers rely on Alpha Software's flagship platform, Alpha Five, to build desktop, client-server, distributed, and Web 2.0 applications for organizations of any size -- from SOHO Soho (sōhō`, sə–), district of Westminster, London, England, known for its continental restaurants. Once a fashionable quarter, it became popular among writers and artists in the 19th cent. to the Fortune 100. The company is privately held, and based in Burlington, Mass. Alpha Software can be found on the Web at http://www.AlphaSoftware.com. Product Info, Demos, Walk-Thrus Secure enterprise Web app See Web application. from scratch in 40 minutes (part 1): http://newsletter.alphasoftware.com/01-07/contactsimpleapppart1/ Secure enterprise Web app from scratch in 40 minutes (part 2): http://newsletter.alphasoftware.com/01-07/contactsimpleapppart2/ Add complete reporting in 14 minutes: http://www.alphasoftware.com/tutorials/web/AddingPDFReportsToAWeb Application/ Integrated Report Builder in action: http://dweb.alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/Sample_Report_01. asp Exploring the Web Security Framework: http://dweb.alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/web_security_01. asp Building desktop apps: Overview (1 of 3): http://alphasoftware.com/tutorials/desktop/ Building desktop apps with NO CODING: Action Scripting (2 of 3): http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/Action_Scripting_01.asp Building Web apps with NO CODING: Web Components (3 of 3): http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/wc_00.asp Shaw Millworks App Case Study: http://www.micromediastudios.com/shawmillworks.htm PRESS REVIEW VERSION: http://alphasoftware.com/trial/ Webinar signup: http://alphasoftware.com/webinar/ "What's New" Webinar: http://alphasoftware.blogspot.com/2007/04/alpha-five-v8-webinar-by- selwyn-rabins.html Quick "What's New" product tour: http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/ Complete product tour: http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/why_choose_01.asp Complete list of NEW FEATURES: http://support.alphasoftware.com/whatsnewinV8/whatsnewinV8.htm Why choose Alpha: http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/why_choose_01.asp Desktop application examples: http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/Desktop_Applications_01 .asp Web application examples: http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/Web_Applications_01.asp Customer testimonials: http://alphasoftware.com/AlphaFive/ProductTour/what_they_say_01.asp Links Press room: http://alphasoftware.com/about/releases.asp E-mail: susie@sreevespr.com Instant message: SusieReevesPR on Yahoo! Messenger Yahoo!'s instant messaging (IM) service, which includes text messaging, voice calling and file sharing. The IM client includes Internet radio and the regular phone calling at rates as low as one cent per minute. Starting with Version 8. Web site: http://www.alphasoftware.com/ Blog: http://alphasoftware.blogspot.com/ RSS feed Summaries of Web site content that are published in the RSS format for download. See RSS. : http://alphasoftware.blogspot.com/atom.xml Google Maps Google Maps (for a time named Google Local) is a free web mapping service application and technology provided by Google that powers many map-based services including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder and embedded maps on third-party websites via the Google Maps : http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=alpha+software+70+blanchard+ road+burlington+mass&sll=54.495568,-67.236328&sspn=17.921851,40.078125 &layer=&ie=UTF (Unicode Transformation Format) See Unicode. UTF - UCS transformation format 8&z=3&om=1 (Due to their lengths, some URLs may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra spaces if one exists.) NOTE TO PRESS Comprehensive resources are available for this story, including executive interviews, industry sources, analyst contacts, supporting documentation, and more. Please contact us if you need more information or resources. |
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