PowerBuilder

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PowerBuilder

PowerBuilder, sometimes abbreviated PB, is a computer application development system created by Powersoft, which was later purchased by Sybase. Touted as a Rapid application development (RAD) system, it includes tools for drawing the user interface and reports, and accessing database content. The tools are provided in an integrated development environment that is the application developer's interface to the capabilities of the system. PowerBuilder also includes a scripting language, Powerscript, which is used to specify the application behavior when events occur. Events usually correspond to user actions, such as clicking on an element of the user interface, or closing a window. Powerbuilder is used primarily for building business applications, but could theoretically be used to create any kind of application. Powerbuilder and the applications built with it are used exclusively on Microsoft Windows computers.

PowerBuilder has a native data-handling object called a DataWindow, which can be used to create, edit, and display data from the database. This patented object gives the programmer a number of tools for specifying and controlling user interface appearance and behavior, and also provides simplified access to database content. To some extent, the DataWindow frees the programmer from considering the differences between Database Management Systems from different vendors.

PowerBuilder was used commonly by companies in the financial sector, in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

As of July 2006, the latest release of PowerBuilder is version 10.5.

"Hello, World!"

The following demonstrates how to design a 'Hello, World!' application in PowerBuilder:

First create an application object. Typically, this can be done with a simple wizard within the development environment.

Add the following code to the 'open' event of the application object:

Messagebox (This.Title, "Hello, World!")

Save and run the application object.

Note: PowerBuilder is a strongly object-oriented language; it is normally regarded bad practice to use a visual object such as a Messagebox in the application object. Here, it is done to keep the example as simple as possible.

Of course, to run the above example application, you must purchase and install the PowerBuilder development tool.

Language Advantages

The advantage of developing applications in PB is that once you have created a base application framework, it is easy to extend that base to create an entirely new application.

Conversely, because PB is a rich and feature filled language, it can take some developers a few years to become truly proficient.

Highly skilled PB programers can usually create applications much faster than in many lower level languages, such as C or C++.

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Domain-specific programming languages

Gourt Home::Gourt :: PowerBuilder

"Hello, World!"

Language Advantages

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