Borland C++Builder Revolt 95
florescent_beige writes "Developers using Borland's C++Builder RAD tool are in revolt. Borland apparently obsoleted this product one year ago. However, the promised migration path (to be described in a now infamous open letter) never materialized.
In a last-ditch effort to convince Borland to support them, users have put together a letter justifying (and begging) for continued support."
Re:Last I heard... (Score:1)
The only problem I've had is that C++.NET is a horrible language, but the full support for C++ is still there and it still rocks.
Begging is not freedom. (Score:4, Insightful)
Poster writes
Slashdot places this story in the "fight-the-man dept.".
Asking or begging a proprietor to do what you want is not fighting anyone, it's acknowledging that you are not livin in freedom. Placing yourself in a dependant position by not choosing free software [gnu.org] to do the job doesn't bode well for leveraging a free market to supply the desired changes or improvements. Ironically, all the customers the letter cites are capable of paying for the support they want. Perhaps these developers should put some money and/or time into getting someone to distribute a free software program that does what they want so they won't be in this position.
quite so Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:4, Interesting)
wxPython [freshmeat.net]
and
Boa Constructor [freshmeat.net], a python IDE and RAD style designer. Its a bit harder than Delphi (or am I getting mentally stale) but at least its fully cross platform GUI and open source, so you get to increase your target market and never get locked in again.
No point in continuing with Delphi.net, it may only happen again in a few years when the fashions change.
I learned this lessen a few years ago when a nameless search engine salesman witheld some updates and we (Ananova/Orange) switched to the open source Xapian [xapian.org] search engine and paid one of the original developers to do some more work on it for us. Xapian is now being trialed [gmane.org] as the search engine behind gmane [gmane.org]
Its the same lesson Richard Stallman learned years ago. Don't get locked in.
There's no need to learn that lesson twice. And, you may as well join the FSF while you are at it. You know it makes more sense than most political donations, and for less than the price of a night out each month! I got a copy of Lessigs "Free Culture" in the post today as part of my FSF membership.
Sam
Re:quite so Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:quite so Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:2)
wxPython and Boa Constructor (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps Anjuta [sourceforge.net] would be more use to them in conjuncion with gcc? Here [sourceforge.net] are the features and here [sourceforge.net] is the eye candy.
Products like C++ Builder are not only fancy IDEs and compilers, but they come with very rich class libraries. If someone has invested years of development time creating applications using these class libraries, thier discontinuation is a disaster if they are to continue to develop their application without rewriting it from scratch using different libraries, or in a whole new language environment.
Re:wxPython and Boa Constructor (Score:2)
I like wxWidgets because it wraps the native widget set of each target platform, somewhat after the style of Borland, so yourapps "look" native.
Sam
Re:wxPython and Boa Constructor (Score:2)
There was a huge problem in my shop a few years back when Rouge Wave changed their licensing terms (for the C++ api's) and costs unexpectedly when renewal time came up.
Developers forced to abandon those (somewhat
Re:quite so Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:2)
Unfortunately, comparing Boa Constructor to something like BCB is like comparing a couple of sticks you intend to rub together very quickly to an acetyline torch. They're not in the same ballpark. They're not even playing the same sport. Boa Constructor is gr
Re:quite so Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:2)
Boa Constructor is too much like the class wrappers MS write for their own API, but still a great thing.
Maybe I should take another look and see what lazarus [freepascal.org] has done in the last 4 years or so. It seems to use GTK or Qt, I wish it used wxWidgets.
Sam
Re: Begging is not freedom (Score:2)
Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:3, Insightful)
If the company (READ FOR MORONS: developers) do not feel like supporting the software, then THEY STOP.
What does the free market dictate? YOU GO SOMEWHERE ELSE (READ FOR MORONS: take your business somewhere else). Stop acting like you have a damn clue.
Whether you take your "business" to free software or not is your choice. THAT IS FREEDOM.
You damn hippies are just tools.
Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:2)
And you can start. Or, at the very least, download the last, best build from some guy's FTP mirror, and keep on working. That is not an option with closed software. If you need a feature, and "they" don't want to implement it, you're out of luck. If you scratch your install CD, and "they" are no longer offering that product, you're out of luck.
Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:3, Insightful)
Obviously that's a limited example, but the Open source example also assumes there is a recent mirror and that you are willing to do it. A lot of people actually have jobs, and do not have the time to redevelop/reverse engineer applica
Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:2)
Actually, free software is always available for anyone to make into whatever they want. If a free software program goes unused it is likely that the program was of low value. But the great thing is that you get to make this call for yourself; I maintain old versions of programs I care about for myself so that when I switch platforms the programs I like move with me. I don't have that power with non-free software. In this situation with Borland,
Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:1)
Again, I refer to my comments that people with real jobs cannot simply pick up where another developer of a huge, many thousands of lines program left off. It's a nice thought, but it's just not realistic.
Second part:
Lets see, the way that free software people seem to think is that someone else should always put in the effort with their R&D and then hand over everything to say, you. Then, you take that code and make one change and start selling it as your own software. Maybe you just
Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:2)
Building GNU didn't involve anyone else doing the R&D for GNU then handing over a fully finished product. It involved using an extant design (UNIX) and writing all
Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:1)
For my final point. Google: define: free [google.com] people who are free; "the home of the free and the brave" grant freedom to; free from confinement free from obligations or duties costing nothing; "complimentary tickets"
Weakness or not, I guess it might just be another poor decision by the OSS movement because saying "pay for free software" is about the biggest weakness in an argument that I can imagine. You benev
Re:Begging is not freedom. (Score:1)
The other guy is just a hippy that repeats himself and doesn't like "mean" words. I'm done responding to him because of his cyclic argument ("Free software will save us." and of course "Paying for something destroys freedom.").
I still see no long term benefits from free software, mostly because all of the existing free software out there is just a copy of some proprietor's software. Apache is the most innovative free software that I have seen
this is why open source rocks (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree Builder is not Open Source... (Score:3, Interesting)
I remember writing in Pascal, and paying for the Pro edition of Borland Pascal with Objects. It was a great environment for the level of development I was doing. It included a large block of source code for OWL which if you spent enough time tweeking, you could have even rebuilt the IDE out of, including the compiler and debugger.
I don't know if the Pro release of Builder C++ provides the same type of set of source code. If it does, then there is no real reason to force Borland to try to continue supporting the software. The 'Pro' or 'Enterprise' customers can review the code, modify it, and create patch files that can be distributed to other developers at the pro and enterprise levels.
So they won't be blessed by Borland. Like Borland has done a lot of other good for you this past year?
-Rusty
Re:I agree Builder is not Open Source... (Score:1, Informative)
The majority of the Delphi & BCB IDEs are implemented in Delphi with VCL, while the JBuilder & CBX IDEs are built in JBuilder. I don't know about Kylix.
There used to b
Re:I agree Builder is not Open Source... (Score:2)
Kylix is basically a Linux port of Delphi. There are even WINE widgets filling in for Windows controls -- which was supposed to be a temporary expedient, but they never got round to writing Linux-native widgets.
Since I mentioned WINE, I have to answer the question that always gets asked: no, Kylix is not a WINE application, it just uses some WINE
Same old Borland (Score:1, Informative)
For developer environments, the software does in fact "rot". For example new APIs and components are introduced in the underlying operating systems, and the compilers and libraries etc usually have to be updated to use them correctly. I remember sitting idly by during the Window
Re:Same old Borland (Score:1, Insightful)
Evaluating Borland's recent actions in light of their overall history, it seems fairly obvious to me what the fumble was this time: Borland gets chummier with Microsoft and completely swallows the
my impression of C++ Builder (Score:3, Interesting)
I just started using Borland's C++ Builder 1.5 Mobile Edition for Symbian/Nokia mobile phone software. So far, it sucks. It can't perform incremental builds: changing one
I think there is a reason that Microsoft Visual C++ won out over Borland's C++ tools.
Re:my impression of C++ Builder (Score:4, Interesting)
I tried before to explain Borland's Dysfunctionality [slashdot.org]. Whatever the reason, it's pretty clear they're never going to live up their potential. Which potential is pretty great -- that's why people get so pissed when they screw up.
Re:not verb (Score:2, Informative)
obsolete
\Ob"so*lete\, v. i. To become obsolete; to go out of use. [R.] --Fitzed. Hall.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
i have used CBuilder (Score:3, Interesting)
I think it is one hell of a devlopment tool, what you do in visual studio in days, can take you hours in CBuilder. With all the drag & drop options, components, and third party objects that were available, it was an extremly easy to use tool.
Some drawbacks though were blotted executable, and runtime libraries issues, but they were only a nag and not a major show stopper.
Too bad they had to cut the support.
Personally i think its a very stupid move from their side, CBuilder was their number 1 product, and they are killing it???? That is a true example of shooting your self in the foot.
Re:i have used CBuilder (Score:2, Interesting)
And by the way, thats not the first time they do it, any one remember KYLIX??:)
Borland was great, at one time. (Score:5, Interesting)
One thing that I REALLY liked about Borland back then was their software license. Basically it said that you had the right to 'Use this software as you would a book'. Meaning that you are allowed to install it on multiple computers as long as only one person would be using it at a time - and it could be different people as well.
I lamented the loss of Borland's products 2 years ago. Now, mingw32 and the old trusty standby vc++6 are my windows tools of choice.
As a previous poster said: that is the problem with closed source applications. Sometimes you get burned like this. I was burned before when Borland C++ Builder upgrades didn't load old projects properly and other closed source widget libraries become incompatible.
--jeff++
Borland as an Eclipse Plugin? (Score:1)
Re:Borland was great, at one time. (Score:1)
The top gun... (Score:1)
*sigh* Imagine what Delphi would be today...
Re:The top gun... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Borland was great, at one time. (Score:1)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vcsharp/homepageheadline s/hejlsberg/default.aspx [microsoft.com]
It hurts reading this on a MS site and nearly nowhere else... but that guy has it right. And Borland was right on path following those ideals.
It's not just about visuals (Score:5, Interesting)
I started by trying JBuilder. I gave up. It's not that I don't like Java - but it ends up being too ecletic in its stubborness for not supporting things like properties and operator overloading - I know how to develop, I don't need a language that imposes limits, I want a language that is easy to write and read, and I'd rather type C++ than the whole verbosity of Java.
I tried Delphi, but again, it's syntax is aging. Don't get me wrong, it's not just about syntax, but if given the chance to develop in C++ or in Delphi, I'll pick the former.
Lastly, we decided to go with BC6. We didn't adhere to using CLX and decided to go with VCL, confident that at any time it would not be a hard issue to port it over, if need ever arised. I'm not so sure right now.
And it's not all about visuals. It's about things that Borland was innovative in, like BDE/dbExpress and the whole concept of linking databases to datasets and then to data-aware controls. It's the whole atmosphere of using a Borland product and having freedom of choice.
I do NOT want to use C#, even though I like the language. I simply refuse to step back 10 years and go back at programming for a single-platform enviroment. Some people say
So, real world choices for RAD enterprise-grade applications involving database access, complex forms, multi-platform, etc? Delphi, C++ or Java.
Java isn't really slow anymore, but the syntax is a disgrace. Why on earth would I want to write a.setCounter( a.getCounter() + 3 ) when Delphi has had for ages a mechanism of properties that allows me to write "a.counter += 3" - even C++ allows for similar freedom, with operator overloading (although not the same) (and no, JavaBeans aren't the answer).
I know, this post comes out as a collection of assorted gripes, mostly in an attempt to justify why I chose to commit to using Borland C++Builder 6. I believe in it, and Kylix. Where's that going? We have a very tight deadline (don't we all) and using Delphi or BC6 is the only viable chance to beat it. Syntax-wise Delphi feels like using VB (ergh) so to keep some sanity intact, BC comes out as the obvious choice. Uncertainity is deadly when it comes to starting projects and preparing for the future... and it's causing me a great deal of concern wether I'm digging myself, the team and the project into a hole in choosing BC6.
Re:It's not just about visuals (Score:3, Interesting)
Java *limits* what you can do and ultimately, the structuring of your code. It forces you to write long sentences and code that doesn't really add anything to the program.
I've mentioned this article [microsoft.com] before, but I really believe it to show some very valid points and the way they approached things on C#.
Bear in mind that I am mostly a C and C
Well... (Score:2)
IF I were going to start a project that had to be developed at "RAD speed" and it had to be cross-platform (and therefore non-Microsoft) and it had to be a decent language which doesn't require a lot of useless verbosity, I would be using Python with a GUI library like wxWindows (actually, EXACTLY like wxWindows since that's my preference).
The real "problem" with Python is the choices it pr
Re:Well... (Score:1)
I'm not picky when it comes to languages, as long as they allow for some degree of expressiveness (read sintactic sugar) and don't force the programmer to write too much "dumb"/pointless code (which is why I'm not fond of Java).
I've done a bit of work in Python, in an UO server emulator [sourceforge.net], and although it's used as a scripting language there, I did notice that most of the recent work tended to be less on the "core" (C) and more in
Re:Well... (Score:2)
All that aside, I have done a little research on data-bound Python applications just for you (an
Oh and.. (Score:2)
Re:Well... (Score:1)
As for data-aware controls... I sense an idea forming. I must admit I never did an extensive search to see if the idea
Re:Well... (Score:2)
Say what you want about Microsoft, but at least we both can say with near certainty that the toolsets under discussion will not evaporat
Re:Well... (Score:1)
I'm trying to investigate all possible avenues, weighting the cost of having to backtrack later. Funny that while we were having this discussion, someone posted a newspiece about Gambas, a VB
Re:Zombie Sucker (Score:1)
I believe in the concept, but the sole fact that I'm seeking information should have spared you some typing.
And why am I answering this? Dunno... it's amusing how people really take time to post comments like yours, so I'll amuse the readers even more by answering.
Re:It's not just about visuals (Score:2)
Re:It's not just about visuals (Score:1)
And having the setter for the "label" property executed (eg, updating some display), instead of doing a.setLabel( "123" )
Some people argue that languages like C# only add sintactic sugar. And you know what? They might be right, but sintactic sugar helps readability and expressiveness. Wasn't for sintactic sugar we'de all still be programming assembly, and from an evolutionary perspective, we'de still have about 14
Always on the Wrong Side of Moore's Law (Score:1)
Borland cannot be trusted (Score:1, Insightful)
Borland has killed off : Codewright, Kylix,C++Builder
and left their developers high and dry.
Their flagship Delphi fails to work on XP systems
with the latest SP 2 applied.
They have long promised and failed to deliver
Compact Framework support in Delphi
Their head of Borland Developer Network, John Kaster is alternatively rude to or dismissive of developers
legitimate concerns.
All these are signs of a company in decline and serious internal disarray.
I would suggest that anyone thinking of using or cont
Delphi Pascal is a joke with no formal syntax (Score:1, Troll)
That's the smallest problem with Delphi that I see. Delphi is a joke. Why? Have you ever tried to obtain a formal syntax for their "Object Pascal"? Good luck, one probably doesn't even exist. That's right. I'm not kidding you. The only program on earth that can parse 100% of Delphi code is the Delphi compiler!. See this thread [google.com] on comp.lang.pascal.delphi.misc.
This is year 2004 and Borland offers us a language for which you can
Re:Borland cannot be trusted (Score:2, Informative)
Borland has not killed off Kylix. That is FUD. Kylix is "on hold" this year, but they did announce some open source initiatives at this years Borland Conference. Kylix isn't thriving at Borland, but it's FUD to say that it's been killed.
Borland
Delphi 5 works well with SP2 here... (Score:1)
I feel sad, but Inprise or is it Borland... (Score:3, Interesting)
they took too long to release a Pascal for Windows.
Since it was their *core* product, clearly they weren't so bothered about capturing hearts and minds as they were in the old days.
OK. I can live with that. But trashing the C++/C community? Hmm. Why is it a problem to keep both streams (and gradually wean people across to C# builder?).
This is not the company we knew and loved years ago.
Nuff said. But there are tears in my eyes because
they were well admired by almost all of us for the things they did in the past.
Anders is now working for those excellent and perhaps too much maligned folk at Redmond (don't spit H2SO4 at me, they are kool sometimes), and I'd guess since PK isn't there it isn't really the
*same* company it was.
Just the name. But, on the other hand Novell is
much to my delight proving that the name still matters.
I for one mourn the passing of a group of people that we all admired...
RIP Borland.
(But, Frank can come and drink a beer here in Athens any day of the week).
Further study on alternatives (Score:3, Interesting)
For the last 8 hours after my other post on this thread, I've been searching the net for information regarding C#, CIL, Mono, comparisons to Java (with usability in mind, not zealotism), etc. And one thing is for sure:
Also, one interesting RAD project is here [icsharpcode.net].
I've also tryed to learn as much as I could from the state of Mono, its legal status... and I felt important to share that my view has changed slightly, it MIGHT become a player, and it might offer a cross-platform alternative to
I'd be most interested in whatever other people might have to say about Java vs
Borland dead? I don't think so. (Score:1)
Python: This really look interesting. I would gladly jump in this bandwagon BUT, I'm not in the OSS stuff. How the heck am I supposed to distribute applications on the internet without also distributing the sources? If there's a way, I'd like to know
C#: This too, looks interesting, but from what I read, it
Re:Borland dead? I don't think so. (Score:2, Insightful)
Consider contributing to the Freepascal and Lazarus open source projects.
Re:Borland dead? I don't think so. (Score:1)
Re:Borland dead? I don't think so. (Score:1, Insightful)
You may not like C++, but C++Builder is still a great tool, and despite the uncertainty it's still one I recommend to people.
One possible 'upgrade' route for BCB users is to port their code to Delphi. All your GUI will still use the VCL, so there's some simple C++ > Pascal 'recoding' involved there, and if you can encapsulate large chunks of your C++ code into DLLs or packages, you can ca
Re:Borland dead? I don't think so. (Score:1)
Yes, if they would do that, I would really have to start to think about migrating to another language, but that wouldn't be urgent, nor dramatic.
Re:Borland dead? I don't think so. (Score:1, Informative)
This is certainly possible. Remember how you distribute Java executables without source code? You compile the source to bytecode, then distribute the bytecode (after some formatting and massaging) to be run by the JRE.
Python will work similarly, but since the Pyt
Thanks. (Score:1)
some thoughts (Score:2)
2) Who really gives a frell? Its not like people can't do C++ anymore. Microsoft puts out a perfectly
Borland NOT dead (Score:1)