LiveCode

Livecode is an easy to learn, open source, high level language for creating programs and mobile apps for a variety of platforms including Windows, iOS and Android.

LiveCode is an open source (GPLv3) cross platform C++ framework and graphical IDE that is able to compile binaries for iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Windows 95 through Windows 7, and several variations of Unix, including Linux, Solaris, and BSD. It can be used for mobile, desktop and server/CGI applications - github.com

You can download the free community edition of LiveCode here

The LiveCode introductory session will take you through creating a short interactive side scrolling hot air balloon game. Working with text, simple animation and using sound to create moving background images to give the illusion of movement, controlling an on-screen element, and detecting collisions to collect bonus points or end the game when you collide with negative elements.

Livecode has an innovative modern extensible architecture designed to wrap native api's available in a number of languages and platforms.

Currently the only language available that has bindings is C++, but this will be extended to C++, Java,, Objective C, Javascript and other languages in the near future.

Livecode Extensions come in two flavours: Livecode Builder and Livecode Widgets.

Open Language is the soon-to-be-released abiity for end users to easily create their own Domain Specific Language, simply by naming their handlers in an intuitive fashion and defining the end user semantics in a simple text file.

The iOS (iPhone and iPad) version was released in December 2010. The first version to deploy to the Web was released in 2009. It is the most widely used HyperCard/HyperTalk clone, and the only one that runs on all major operating systems Wikipedia .

It might be possible to further simplify programming in LiveCode, by putting a narrower set of features up front, hiding many details. Simple action/response pairs could be provided without requiring any scripting. wikipedia site

Livecode started off as Metacard on Unix based platfroms before being ported to Windows and Apple based platforms in the late 1990's. It was a conscious attempt to reimplement HyperCard as a general purpose cross-platform authoring environment.

Like HyperCard, LiveCode allows you to build GUIs by dragging and dropping widgets, or drawing with simple line and shape tools. And it uses a scripting language similar to HyperTalk, but more powerful, with most of the capabilities expected from today's programming tools, such as networking and video.

Livecode Ltd has run two successful crowd funding campaigns.

The first in March 2013 raised £493,795 to open source and refactor of the legacy code base to create a modern forward facing architecture built around extensibiility and Open Language - kickstarter

The second in July 2015 raised $395,366 to add Livecode Html5 Export to the platform using Emscripten - kickstarter