I'm not sure what "kind of code that we all produce day-to-day" you're referring to, but Max being priced at $400 per license suggests it isn't only a "useful l

I'm not sure what "kind of code that we all produce day-to-day" you're referring to, but Max being priced at $400 per license suggests it isn't only a "useful learning tool". Do checkout http://cycling74.com http://cycling74.com and see whether the long distance could be the other way for these kinds of applications.