Slashdot Mirror
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."
I've been waiting for this for a long time. I'm still using Borland C++ Builder 5.0. I think. Whatever the latest patch was.
I think it's time to break out the champange and do a happy-naked-pagan-dance 'round the stonehenge of mainframes in the back yard.
Edward@Tomato - /home/Edward/ man woman
man: no entry for woman in the manual.
"Qua!?"
New IDE but no screenshots? :-(
Nice thing is, Borland tends to release 'personal' editions for at-home use that require no money (though the features are slimmed down).
Being a big fan of the JBuilder series, I'll be sure to d/l the personal edition for C++ (in a day or two when the servers aren't so clogged).
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
"Research firm IDC projected that C and C++ professionals will remain the largest group of developers through 2005."
.NET libraries and pretty much ignoring the "standard" C++ libraries) the same as someone using gnu C++ on Solaris? What do you guys think?
That's highly subjective. What is a developer? Do you count sysadmins write shells scripts? (If so, they severely outnumber all other forms of development) Can you really lump in all C and C++ developers together (is someone using Visual C++.NET (i.e. using all the
a C++ IDE written in Java. The scrollbars are the giveaway.
C vs. C++ is like vi vs. emacs. Saying that C and C++ professionals are one group is like suggesting a fusion between Megadeth and N'Sync.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Then why have I been out of work for over 2 years?
It's weird. Most of the cross-platform toolkits assume that you will use VC++ on Windows, and don't support the Borland compiler very well, which is a shame. Trolltech also has a cross-platform environment (Qt), and they include OS X in there. I don't understand why Qt assumes VC++ on Windows, as opposed to Borland and/or GCC.
I also don't understand making the effort to do Win32 and some sort of X11 interface, and not building an OS X one? Carbon is C based, and you should be able to build a Carbon wrapper.
May not be a HUGE market, but the Mac market isn't THAT small., and it's MUCH bigger than Linux. Admittedly, there are probably about as many corporate Linux desktops as OS X desktops, but I know many Unix guys running OS X.
Borland C++ Builder was, for a time, the best C++ development environent available. C++ Builder 3 was an amazing product that was very tight, quick, and feature packed. Unfortunately after that Borland went into the long black Inprise period and has had some serious quality control isssues with their products.
Also, MS released Visual Studio 6.0 which was a better compiler for non visual programming (most C++ is non visual programming these days). IMO, this will be a better development environemnt than MFC or Java (at least on windows). The question is, will it be better than VS 7.0/C# for application development?
I hope this turns out to be good!
I am also sick of the use of the word "extreme." I do not want the Extreme Value Combo, I do not want to watch Extreme Television, I do not want to be a part of Extreme Programming. It's even worse when they use Xtreme. It was sorta cool during the (first) X-Games. After that, it just got lame.
It's even got to the point where X as a substitute for 10 is unacceptable, simply because it looks dumb. Do not say "Version X," please say "Version 10."
Everyone: do the world a favor and pull a "Clinton-exit-manuever" on the marketers in your office: sneak in after they leave and pry the "X" keys off of their keyboards. Thank you.
From the overview, system requirements are 512MB RAM minimum, 768MB recommended. That seems a tad bit bloated for an IDE... No thanks!
I print, therefore I am.
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.
Borland is a leader in C++ development
I'd be all like "Khazam!!! MS can kizziss my kizzass!" People would dig that shit in press releases.
Anybody else notice the builtin support for wxWindows???
Neat
For over five years now, Borland has divided its development products into three classes: personal, professional, and enterprise. It used to be that all three had similar licenses, but each level had more features than the previous version. All were suitable for professional development. The personal edition was ~$100, the professional ~$500, and enterprise ~$2500.
Then, a few years ago, Borland changed this scheme. The professional version jumped up to ~$1000, and the enterprise beyond that. The catch is that at the same time they changed the license of the personal version so it cannot be used commercially or to develop commercial products--even low cost products. So now you have the $100 product that's essentially crippled, and to go to the next level, just to remove that one clause from the license, you have to spend $900. That's completely ridiculous.
Please Borland, give it up. Why should I have to pay $1000 when there are other products at half the price? The answer is "I won't." I'll buy your competitor's products.
1. C++BuilderX development environment runs on Windows, Linux, and Solaris
2. Tight integration between C++BuilderX and multiple industry leading C and C++ compilers -- Borland C++ for Windows, Intel 32-bit compilers for Windows and Linux, Microsoft Visual C++ 7.1, Sun Forte C++, Metrowerks C++ and the GNU C++ Compiler Collection -- keeps you in control of your technology decisions.
3. C++BuilderX is designed to simplify the concurrent management of source code through tight integration with Borland(R) StarTeam,(R) an automated configuration and change management system, as well as Concurrent Versions System (CVS), Rational(R) ClearCase,(R) and Microsoft(R) Visual SourceSafe.(R)