Here's some exciting news for both established and aspiring developers alike. Seregon is planning on introducing a new tool to the development community, which they are calling dragonRAD, that aims to take application development and make it much more accessible. Those who have programmed for the BlackBerry platform before know how frustrating it can be to develop for, which seems to be one of the main reasons given for the lack of people developing for our beloved platform. dragonRAD is a stand-alone PC software that will give the ability to create enterprise applications from the ground up, with minimal coding experience required, depending on what the goal is. The drag and drop interface means that as long as you have a solid plan for the layout of the app, and the intended function, you can create an app without having to code a single thing. A scripting language has been included as well, for those with the know-how that want to write their own complex business logic. Users also have the ability to pull information from any database or web service, and integrate their application fully with the native functions of the BlackBerry OS, such as the camera, barcode reader, GPS, etc. The software also assists with easy OTA deployment to devices you authorize, and can synch in real time with mobile devices to keep the information current on the handhelds.
The fact that applications can be built this rapidly, without advanced coding knowledge could be a huge step forward for the BlackBerry platform, opening it up to the creativity of many more users that previously haven't been interested in learning. The software also aids in cross platform development, allowing developers to create their applications for multiple platforms rapidly. I'll be following this one very closely to see what happens with it, and I've already signed myself up for the beta. If you're as interested as I am, hit up the website below and enter your email address to get your name in for a spot. Space is limited, and they have already seen a huge demand, so be patient.
