Happy New Year!
What does 2012 hold for RunRev, LiveCode, and the programming community at large?

by Heather Nagey

Welcome to the first revUp of 2012. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season - we certainly did, and we're now back, refreshed and ready for a new year.

The Future is Mobile?
So, what does the new year hold for LiveCode, and the RunRev community? Well, if we've learned one thing over the last 10 years or so, it's that trying to predict where we will be in a year's time is definitely an art, not a science! The software world is so fast moving that predictions are really just informed guesses. Will iOS still dominate the Mobile market? Or will Android overtake it this year? What about the web, and what does Windows 8 and HTML 5 mean for application development? Will desktop machines really become the dinosaurs of computing, or will they remain a mainstay for serious developers? How mobile are you?

Education
It's very clear that mobile platforms and relevant modern programming skills are becoming more and more important and valued in education, and it looks like 2012 is going to be big for LiveCode in this area. We're already seeing a huge increase in enquiries from schools and universities everywhere, and we're always delighted to work with educators to get LiveCode used as the tool of choice for teaching our young people.

Conferences and Shows
Last year we went to several major conferences with excellent results. It's great to get out into the community and meet you face to face, and we expect to be doing more of that this year, kicking off with MacWorld in January. You can come along and meet our CEO Kevin Miller if you are attending this show. Don't forget our very own conference too, in June! Last year's RunRevLive was outstanding, and we can't wait to see you all again in New Jersey.

Awards and the Press
Last year saw LiveCode nominated for several awards. We were very proud to win the prestigious Jolt Award from Dr Dobbs, and were nominated for BETT as well as several other awards. We also got a lot of good press coverage, with reviews and articles from Cult of Mac, iPhonelife, Computer Weekly and TUAW to name just a few. This year we expect to see even more of that, with upcoming reviews in a variety of places and even a new book in the works (watch this space!). 2012 looks like being a year of raised awareness and industry recognition for LiveCode.

Growth
With so much going on, we anticipate more growth of the team here in Edinburgh. Last year we added no less than four new staff members, the offices are filling up! We're looking forward to welcoming even more new faces in 2012. I'm sure we'll find space for them somewhere!

Academy
A huge success story from 2011 has been the Academy concept. Our first one in the summer was so popular we ran it again, then followed up with the current Game Academy, the best yet. The feedback we're getting from this is excellent, attendance is vibrant, students are loving it, and people are really getting into LiveCode like never before. We'll definitely be running more of these this year, its likely the next one will focus on Business Apps. Don't miss it!

One thing we can say for sure. Whatever developments are coming in 2012, RunRev, LiveCode and the LiveCode community will be right in there, keeping up with the changes and enabling users as we have done since 1997.

Happy New Year everybody!

About the Author Heather Nagey is Customer Services Manager for RunRev Ltd.