Rexx pc download

The first personal computer with a multitasking operating system, the Amiga, relied on Rexx as its primary scripting language. Now the free software movement has breathed new life into this well-proven language. Rexx's distinguishing characteristic is that it combines ease of use with power.

It's as easy to learn as Basic or PHP, but it has the power required to run mainframe data centers. It's good at text manipulation and is particularly well-suited for issuing operating system commands. It's an excellent alternative to the Windows shell language and makes a nice complement to difficult-to-master scripting languages like Perl and Linux's Bourne-Again shell.

Its advantages over Microsoft technologies like Visual Basic and VBScript are that it is standardized, non-proprietary, and cross-platform. And it's free. Two versions of Rexx have been specially packaged with Windows-oriented features: Reginald and r4.

They also feature easy-to-read documentation that includes many scripting examples. You can also run it within a DOS emulator on your handheld. This brings thousands of DOS programs to the handheld with a ready-made scripting language to tie them together.

You might also be interested in object-oriented Rexx. Our Tools section lists many of them and gives hot links to download them. Rexx comes in three basic varieties -- 1. Object Rexx. This is a superset of classic Rexx, fully extended for object-oriented programming. All object-oriented programming features are completely supported, including messaging, classes, objects, single and multiple inheritance, data hiding and encapsulation, polymorphism and operator overloading and a large class library.

All Classic Rexx programs will run under object Rexx without alteration. This is a "Java-compatible," Rexx-like language. It coexists interchangeably with Java code and runs under the Java Virtual Machine. You can develop applications, applets, servlets, and beans with NetRexx, then intermix their use in any way desired with Java components. NetRexx uses Java classes and can be used to develop classes for use by Java programs. NetRexx will even generate fully commented Java code.

How many free Rexx interpreters are there? There are 7 free Rexx interpreters, 2 free object-oriented Rexx interpreters, and the free Java compatible NetRexx. Download any of them from our Downloads section. Rexx is standardized by the ANSI standard and is not controlled by any one company or individual.

Since it is a widely-used, useful language, this has resulted in the availability of several free interpreters. This is a great benefit because you can select the interpreter you like -- one optimized for speed, extended for a particular operating system, or whatever. The main downside is that not every free tool works with every interpreter. Yes, among them Regina and ooRexx. See the Downloads page for information and download links.

Yes, Rexx runs on most handheld operating systems, see here and here. Every free Rexx interpreter at least conforms to TRL The single exception is NetRexx, a "Rexx-like" language designed to integrate into the Java environment. Rexx's standardization yields portable code and renders your Rexx skills transferable across systems. Is Rexx a "scripting language" or "command language"?

When Rexx was invented twenty years ago, IBM termed it a " command language " or "command procedures language" because it is excellent for issuing and managing operating system commands. Today most people call such languages " scripting languages. Either terminology can be used. Rexx can be called either a scripting language or a command language. Yes, both.

A macro language is a scripting language that provides programmability within some other software product. Rexx is a macro language for many products. Rexx is easy because it is a free-form, English-like language that requires almost no syntax this contrasts to the Unix shell languages and Perl, which use almost every symbol on the keyboard. Rexx has a very small instruction set, surrounded by a rich function set. You can start programming right away and expand your knowledge of the language's functions at your own pace.

Many free tools for Rexx come in the form of "external function libraries. Rexx is powerful due to its large built-in function library, its easy extensibility by external function packages, its integration and extension through standard interfaces to other languages like C, its string manipulation capabilities, and its huge set of free add-on tools.

Anything you can do in any other scripting language, you can do in Rexx. Rexx looks easy to code in. Won't I run out of power using such an easy language?

No, Rexx is easily extensible and offers thousands of free add-on tools. It's a power language. The article " Power through Simplicity " explains how power can be based in languages that "look" simple and the advantages to this approach to power programming over languages that "look" powerful.