A Comparison of Client/Server Development Tools; PowerBuilder vs. Delphi
By Michael Lant
Sphere Data Systems Inc.
NOTE: The views and information expressed in this document represent those of its author(s) who are solely responsible for
its content. Borland does not make or give any representation or warranty with respect such content.
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since the introduction in
February 1995, Borland's Delphi Client/Server development tools
have set a new standard in high-performance rapid application
development. As a result of Delphi's unique combination of a
native code compiler, visual two-way tools and scaleable database
technology, Delphi has won dozens of technical awards worldwide
and has become the fastest growing visual tool.
In just over twelve months,
hundreds of thousands of customers have used Delphi Client / Server
to solve their business needs; including such organizations as
Alcatel, American Cyanamid, American Stores, Arthur Anderson,
AT&T, BMW, BP Shipping, Bank of America, BBC Television, British
Telecom, City of Los Angeles, Compaq, Conoco, Coopers & Lybrand,
DHL, Dover Elevators, EDS, Ernst & Young, Fiat, First National
Bank of Chicago, Glaxo, KPMG, Mercury Communications, Netscape,
Sarah Lee Knitting, Standard & Poors, SwissBank SG Warburg,
Union Bank, US Marine Corps and many others.
Recently ComputerWorld contracted
First Market Research Corp. to survey users of each client/server
product, the goal was to find out what factors led users to choose
a client/server product and how well the package has performed.
Delphi has achieved significantly higher customer satisfaction
than PowerBuilder.
"
Delphi has satisfied
its users more than competitors have because it is the first tool
to include features that developers need to build faster stand-alone
applications -- ones that don't require runtime modules such as
a code compilers...Overall satisfaction scores show that Powersoft's
PowerBuilder could be past its prime. ComputerWorld, March
15, 1996"
Industry analysts also concur
that Delphi Client/Server Suite 2.0 offers significant advantages
in speed, flexibility and power. For example, International Data
Corp reports that in 1995 Delphi sold 16% of all RAD Client/Server
development tools compared to only 6% for PowerBuilder.
"For general purpose client/server
based applications Delphi 2.0 may be a better choice than Visual
Basic or PowerBuilder. It provides native code compilation, significant
data access capabilities, and a large library of objects straight
out-of-the-box. In fact, Delphi Client/Server Suite 2.0 offers
a viable alternative to the C++ language and the more difficult
to learn PowerBuilder environment for object-oriented programming.
Aberdeen Group, November 1995."
Delphi Client / Server
Suite 2.0 incorporates integrated technologies that help solve
your business needs. Delphi Client / Server Suite 2.0 includes
technologies that are still not available in PowerBuilder 5.0,
e.g. an object-oriented Application Architecture, SQL Monitor,
Scaleable Data Dictionary, and the world's fastest Optimizing
32-bit Native Code Compiler.
Borland is completing the
next stage of its client/server strategy by acquiring Open Envirornent.
Delphi, in combination with Open Environment's Entera, offers
its customers a business advantage by providing the only scalable
architecture that meets development needs from the desktop to
the enterprise. Delphi combines the productivity of its object-oriented
rapid application development with Open Environment's distributing
computing and application management architecture to offer scalable,
rapid application development for the entire enterprise.
II. INTRODUCTION
Client/Server development
tools remain one of the fastest growing sectors of the software
industry. Research by META group predicts that over 90% of all
new applications will be based on the Client Server model. Forrester
Research also predicts that between 1995 and 1996, the number
of Client/Server developer licenses will roughly double to approximately
700,000 seats worldwide. With this enormous growth rate comes
many of the challenges of maturing technologies. According to
articles in ComputerWorld, PC Week as well as research by the
Gartner Group and others, some of the most frequently cited concerns
are:
- Training
- Productivity Of Tools
- Code / Component Reuse
- Performance
- Scalability
- System Reliability
- Unavailability / Down
Time
- Greater Than Expected
Costs
- RAD - Rapid Application
Development
Only Delphi addresses each
of these concerns by offering a complete suite of technologies
that allow developers to work in both the Client and Server Development
environments. These include the SQLMonitor for tuning client
and server communications, SQL Explorer for examining and modifying
server metadata, OLE automation for integrating in your desktop
environment, and much more. Delphi also offers the world's fastest
integrated native code compiler to create machine code executables
that outperform PowerBuilder applications by 15-50 times. This
means that your application will exceed end-user expectations
for speed.
Delphi Client/Server Suite
2.0 is the only application development tool that has true object
oriented technology to offer maximum code reusability and maintenance.
And only Delphi has exception handling capabilities that help
developers create applications that remain stable under the workloads
of your business.
"Combining faster
core technology with expanded client/server design aids, the forthcoming
Delphi 2.0 from Borland International Inc. updates a development
system that already offered good reasons to switch from Powersoft
Inc.'s PowerBuilder or Microsoft Corp's Visual Basic." PCWeek
Jan 22, 1996
The companies that are able
to exploit opportunities for maximum return on investment will
be those that can develop applications that respond to the speed
of business. Delphi equips companies with the most powerful development
tool they need to produce robust, flexible, client/server applications,
and to do it fast.
The purpose of this document
is to examine these issues as they apply to Client/Server application
development and in particular, how they apply to the two leading
Client/Server application development tools; Delphi Client/Server
Suite 2.0 and PowerBuilder Enterprise 5.0.
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