Category Archives: Reactor Lab history

What happened to the desktop Lab?

As of July, 2022, I am no longer providing downloads of the desktop versions of our software.

After retiring from the university eight years ago, I stopped maintaining the desktop (standalone, executable) versions for several reasons.

The main reason is that web technology has developed to the point that interactive web apps can be written once, then distributed and run on all varieties of smart phones and computers. One important development has been the dramatically increased speed of Javascript in web browsers, which enables fast computation and graphics animation.

Another reason is that I have chosen not to spend the cost in time and money required to update and build desktop executables for multiple operating systems, as the versions of our development tool, LiveCode, and operating systems change.

The source code of our desktop software is posted at our GitHub site.

Please see our Web Labs, for which the source code is also posted at our GitHub site.

Please send us a message letting us know what you think at support@reactorlab.net

Links to external sites open in new browser tabs.

25th anniversary of Reactor Lab this month!

Reactor Lab is a pioneer in developing interactive simulations for active learning. This is a screenshot of an experiment in the Lab in March 1993 – 25 years ago this month. The Lab was a single HyperCard stack. Click on the image to see a larger version.

RL_March_1993

Here is the same experiment in today’s desktop Reactor Lab.

RL_now

A brief history of the development of Reactor Lab through 2006 is available at LiveCode Journal (hit browser back button to return here). The article refers to Revolution, which was LiveCode’s previous name. LiveCode is the development tool used to build the desktop version of ReactorLab.

23 years of Reactor Lab and interactive simulations for active learning

Reactor Lab is a pioneer in developing interactive simulations for active learning. This is a screenshot of an experiment in the Lab in March 1993, when the Lab was a single HyperCard stack. The screenshot was taken after it was converted to a LiveCode stack to keep it alive and operable on today’s computers. Click on the image to see a larger version.

RL_March_1993

Here is the same experiment in today’s Reactor Lab.

RL_now

A brief history of the development of Reactor Lab through 2006 is available at LiveCode Journal. The article refers to Revolution, which was LiveCode’s previous name.