* A-A-P is portable over many systems. At least most Unix variants, MS-Windows and possibly the Macintosh. * A-A-P is open source, free software. Most of it is under the GNU GPL. Interfaces and libraries are more free. * A-A-P is not a monolitic program. It is made out of separate modules with clear interfaces. Most of the work is done by existing tools. * Since network connections are slow and unreliable - and when using a laptop - a local copy of a file is often required. A-A-P caches files, obtains a new version when available and cleans up files that have not been used recently. * The more alternatives there are, the more choices a developer has to make. Making all these choices slows down development. Therefore A-A-P provides a preferred set of modules. Many people will be satisfied with most of these modules, but will still be able to use a different module where they have a preference. * A-A-P is available in a command-line version and in a GUI version. The command-line version works on a console and over a telnet connection. The GUI version is easier to use, but requires a windowing system. * A-A-P maintains a set of preferences. These are global to all projects but local to the user or system. This specifies where specific tools, libraries, documentation files, etc. can be found. This greatly reduces the need to configure a package when building or installing it. * English is used in the original code. Provisions are made to add translations through the use of message files. * Reliability is considered more important than fancy features. A-A-P is a tool you can rely on.

* MPW Shell - The Shell is the centerpiece of the MPW development environment. It is an integrated multiwindow text editor and command executer which supports numerous built-in commands and a powerful scripting language that allows you to customize the environment to suit your needs. The Shell also includes Projector, an integrated source code control system that simplifies the management of large, complex software projects being worked on by a team of programmers. * SC/SCpp -- C and C++ Compilers (68K) - SC and SCpp are ANSI-compliant 680x0-code-generating C and C++ compilers that are faster than previous compilers included with MPW, run in native mode on a Power Macintosh, and support the CFM-68K runtime model. * MrC/MrCpp -- C and C++ Compilers (PowerPC) - MrC and MrCpp are MPW compilers which offer greatly improved turnaround time and also generate efficient and highly-optimized PowerPC code for fastest binary execution on Power Macintosh systems. MrC adheres to the ANSI C standard (ANSI X3.159-1991) and MrCpp adheres to the ANSI C++ working paper (ANSI X3J16) except for templates and exception handling (a prerelease version of the compiler supports these two capabilities). * Assemblers (68K and PowerPC) - Two assemblers are included, one which supports the full 68xxx instruction set and the other which supports the PowerPC instruction set. The 68xxx assembler supports all the instructions and addressing modes for the MC68000, MC68010, MC68020, and MC68030 microprocessors, the MC68851 Paged Memory Management Unit (PMMU), and the MC68881 and MC68882 Floating-Point Coprocessors, in all usable combinations. * MPW Tool and Script Suite - Dozens of tools and scripts are included to assist in the development process. These include linkers, a Make tool, resource manipulation and analysis tools, file comparison utilities, and many more.