C++ Builder 2006 announced

Borland has officially announced the C++ Builder 2006 product, due for release towards the end of the year 2005. Instead of a separate IDE like before, Borland is rolling out a single IDE, dubbed the Borland Developer Studio, which will play host to the Delphi, C++ and C# languages. C# will be .NET only, while C++ will be Win32 only. However using the Delphi language, you'll be able to target either runtime.

In my opinion, C++ Builder is the best C++ coding environment on Windows. So, if I had to write a C++ application on Windows only, I would never look anywhere else. It's one of those environments that you have to actually use to understand why it's better. Comparing it against Visual Studio or CodeWarrior etc doesn't really work because the way you attack problems in C++ Builder is quite different from most other environments. The fact that is uses C++ as the language is almost incidental - the real power lies elsewhere.

Using C++ as the language has the advantage of being able to use all the libraries that exist today including Boost, STL etc. The real power however is in the component model - VCL (visual component library), and the way components interact with and extend the IDE. Borland has mostly been focusing on this side of the functionality and has largely been ignoring the needs of large complex pieces of software. Well it seems the focus has shifted and along with some cool new VCL and IDE features, C++ Builder also gets enhanced build process management and a much more robust compiler and linker.

To see how the new C++ Builder looks and works, check out the following screencasts:

• Overview (build configurations and IDE features)
• Hello World (project management and a simple example)
• VCL database development

Links
C++ Builder 2006 Product Page