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Borland Releases New C++ Toolkit
shelleymonster writes "Infoworld points out that, after two years of coding, Borland has released its latest C++ development toolkit. Borland C++BuilderX is a multiplatform IDE for Windows, Linux, and Solaris that provides a brand-new visual development environment. Press release here." According to the Infoworld piece, "While newer languages, such as Java and Microsoft's C#, garner more attention than C++, research firm IDC projected that C and C++ professionals will remain the largest group of developers through 2005."
Screenshots galore:
href="http://www.borland.com/cbuilderx/tour/View_C ++BuilderX%20Turbo%20Demo.htm
Its nice to see Borland trying to fill the niche of Cross Platform compilers... I loved Borland back in the day. I learned C in microsoft Quick C, then once I got my hands on Borland C, then C++... there was no looking back. Until windows came about that is. Up until Visual Studio 6, Borland consistantly made the better IDE. It was truely a joy developing and debugging within the Borland IDE. Even the long departed OWL was a nicer framework then MFC at the time... atleast IMHO. Then things took a turn for the worse...
I think its safe to say... since Visual Studio 6... the Microsoft product *IS* the IDE of choice to use on Windows. Actually, from what ive seen... since VS 7/.net... its the best damned IDE period! I think alot of people will agree with that... so many damned bells and wistles... its really hard to compete with Visual Studio these days. Actually... VS is the only reason I prefer programming on Wintel over linux. The linux API's are certainly nicer to work with... but from someone who got used to programming in Visual studio... going over to vi/emacs + make files is just toooooo damned painful for me.
Somewhere along the way... borland released Borland CBuilder... wow... RAD development... without having to use a hooky ass language like VB... how great! So I gave it a shot. I loved it at first... then ran into soooooooo many quirks I was pulling my hair out. Not to mention, I hated the class framework ( VCL or something similar ). It really showed its Delphi roots, and im a C++ programmer for a reason!
So, at 1000$ USD... does the new Borland compiler have a use? Sure it does... If I have to do cross platform, GUI based C++ applications in the future, and budget allows... Im all over this! I would much rather use a Borland IDE, then any linux build systems ( except possibly KDevelop... it might have come a far way since I checked last! ) But, this product is great, for traditionally windows based C++ developers, who have to do GUI apps on Linux/Unix. Biggest problem I see is... this isnt really a good answer for open source development. Ill explain below.
The majority of open source code, is written to support the GCC compilers, and the most commonly available Open Source libraries, such as gzip to give an example. Now... in order to get cross platform support with the Borland compiler... with all the frills anyways... you would have to use the borland libraries... this is something I can imagine most opensource projects would shy away from. Not to say, this compiler wont compile code GCC would... or any such thing... Im just saying to really take advantage of its features... you will have to use the borland libraries. This isnt necisarrily a bad thing, but I think it will be a big hangup in the open source communities. Regardless, I hope to get my hands on this product for a better look.
What I really wish for, is BorlandC# to be release, with target support for either a) Mono or b) a Borland written CLR. Probrably wishful thinking.