PowerBuilder
| Developer(s) | SAP/Appeon |
|---|---|
| Initial release | July 1992 |
| Stable release |
12.6 / August 2014
|
| Preview release |
PowerBuilder 2017
|
| Written in | C++ and C# |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Available in | English, Japanese for the IDE (numerous languages supported for deployed applications) |
| Type | IDE |
| License | Commercial |
| Website | www |
PowerBuilder is an integrated development environment owned by SAP since the acquisition of Sybase in 2010. On July 5, 2016, SAP and Appeon entered into an agreement whereby Appeon would be responsible for developing, selling, and supporting PowerBuilder.
PowerBuilder has been in use since 1991, peaking around 1998 with around 100,000 users. While PowerBuilder's market share has declined over the years, many applications created with it are still in use today.
Over the years, PowerBuilder has been updated with new standards. In 2010, a major upgrade of PowerBuilder was released to provide support for the Microsoft .NET Framework. In 2014, support was added for OData, dockable windows, and 64-bit native applications.
Sybase sold another programming tool called PocketBuilder. It was based on PowerBuilder and used for creating applications that run on mobile devices such as cell phones or PDAs. This product, however, has been discontinued — Sybase announced end of life in 2011 with support ending in 2012.
PowerBuilder has a native data-handling object called a DataWindow, which can be used to create, edit, and display data from the database. This 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. Datawindow can display data using multiple presentation styles and can connect to various data sources.
PowerBuilder is used primarily for building business applications. PowerBuilder was used by some companies in the financial and telecoms sectors where Java and Microsoft Visual Studio are more predominant.
There are a number of third-party tools that build upon and enhance the functionality of PowerBuilder, such as Appeon, Visual Expert, and Enable Multilingual.
PowerBuilder was originally developed by Powersoft in 1991. Powersoft went public in 1993 and was acquired by Sybase for $904 million in Sybase stock in 1995. In May 2010, SAP announced that it would be acquiring Sybase for $5.8 billion. PowerBuilder languished for a long time for several reasons:
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