CodeWarrior 6.0 for Palm Computing

This is 3 versions back from the current version but I'd be VERY skeptical about purchasing anything from this company if they released something like this.As I mentioned, it's buggy. On the minor side, the help files aren't complete. I'm constantly getting messages about missing files. I've even checked the disk and they aren't there either. The tutorial that comes with it isn't bad but sometimes references options that aren't available on this version of the application. It's like they wrote it for a different GUI.On the major side, I'm constantly having to close the application after debugging the app once. It's possible this is caused by me using the Palm emulator instead of my Palm device, but I really have to doubt it. In fact, one error that seems to cause me to close and reopen is publicly known by Metroworks, but there isn't a patch in sight.In the middle, it just doesn't help the developer. For instance, I wanted to add a resource file to one of the groups of my project. Their is no "Right mouse click, add" context menu, only delete, like that's the only option I would want to choose for a folder. So, up to the menu bar I go to choose "Add file" only to be given the error, "At least one file couldn't be added to the selected target." To fix this you have to choose a a linker and post linker from the projects setting options. If that was the case, why not tell the developer that this is what needs to be done. The error message they provide just leave one wondering what to do next.It's possible I've gotten use to using Visual Studio, which actually helps the developer in the creation process. This apps only strength is the form creator. For one thing, it seems to work, but when I drop form components onto the form, it's just an outline. Again, I'd like to see something like what Visual Studio shows in form creation.I really wanted to start writing some palm apps but I'm starting to think it's not worth it.I know Palm offers a dev environment, but I don't see a trial version of it so I ain't paying $20 for something that could be just as useless.

If you are used to using modern programming IDE's such as Visual C++, you will hate using this. It's like going back to the coding stone age. It has a bizarro interface that some code monkey must have designed all alone in a closet 10 years ago. It doesn't look like it's ever been updated. NO automatic syntax completion... UGH ! C'mon, this is 2001 ! This means always digging through Palm's Acrobat Reader (ick!) files for the function parameters, etc. This will burn up some serious time for you, especially if you're learning. Online help ? Yeah right. You'll spend 1 - 2 weeks just getting this thing configured, and learning how to use it's arcane interface. But once you're going - as another reviewer stated - it has integrated debugging, etc. So apparently it's the best IDE for Palm development going. (sigh) I'm going to see if I can't configure Visual C++ to write the code, and just use this for debugging.Metrowerks makes specialized IDE's that nobody else wants to bother with because of the comparatively small developer market - such as for game consoles, etc., so typically they're the only choice. 3Com now has their name on it, maybe they'll rework it and bring it into this millenium.