PowerBuilder® 8.0 vs. Visual Basic® 6.

0
Competitive Analysis
PowerBuilder 8.0 New
Features Round Up
■ Workspace Environment ■ Enhanced Productivity
The new workspace environment allows development teams to control a In addition to the workspaces and targets, the IDE has additional features to
multi-faceted development effort including one-or-more standard client- enhance developer productivity. From enhanced auto-scripting, to new and
server applications, one-or-more distributed component applications and more powerful wizards, command-line interfaces to perform deployment and
a collection of web-targets. IDE enhancements, the PowerBuilder environment realizes the potential that
was begun in the preceding version.
■ Targets
The deployment target for each application can be different. The target main- ■ Exception Handling
tains information about the application and what type of deployment would Java™-like exception handling is now part of the PowerBuilder language.
be required. This allows for a more robust development effort.

■ Web Targets ■ DataWindow™ Enhancements

Sybase’s PowerSite product is fully integrated into the PowerBuilder environ- The DataWindow, the most powerful single control in PowerBuilder, is
ment allowing developers to develop PowerBuilder applications, EAServer enhanced to add automated JavaScript generation to it’s Web-DataWindow
components and/or HTML, JavaScript™ web-components. capabilities.

■ Enhanced EAServer Support

It is easy to work with an EAServer target with features specifically designed
to make the process much simpler and error-free.

■ Enhanced Stability and Speed

1
PowerBuilder 8 is much more stable and performs better than PB 7.

■ Enhanced Source Code Control

Source Code Control is in line with the way source code control works in
other non-binary environments.

Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0

PowerBuilder 8.0 Feature
Strengths vs. VB 6.0
■ DataWindow
The DataWindow is an extremely powerful control allowing access to data for
editing or reporting in a multitude of formats and access choices. The HTML
DataWindow gives a developer the same capability of a DataWindow in a thin-
client browser-based solution. PowerBuilder can build queries, create DataWindows
and save these for future use, all at runtime. This provides users of PB applications
ad-hoc query and reporting capabilities.
VB does not have the same capabilities of the PB DataWindow with its data
access, editing, and reporting functionality. Additionally, there is no way to
create a VB Active Data Object (ADO) control on-the-fly as you can with
the PB DataWindow.
■ Object Orientation
Object-oriented development has always been a major strength of PowerBuilder.
Inheritance is truly made simple by the graphical inheritance model used in
the product.
VB is not object-oriented. Some of the Microsoft® Controls are only in exis-
tence because of this lack of object-orientation. For example, there is a listbox
control and a filelistbox control. On object-oriented languages, the filelistbox
control would be a specialization of the listbox control, and can then further
be specialized by the developer instead.
■ Platform Independence
PowerBuilder applications can run in Windows and its components can be
deployed in Java environments utilizing EAServer today, and other 3rd-party
application servers in the future. PowerBuilder clients can access CORBA, COM
or JAVA components via EAServer, making it one of the most diverse tools
available. The ability to develop components in PowerBuilder and easily deploy
to EAServer also means that PB components can easily be accessed by any exter-
nal client on any platform.
Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
A major weakness of VB is its platform dependence. If running something
other than a Microsoft operating system, one cannot use Visual Basic.
There’s a tendency to try and lock developers into support tools, such as
MS SQL Server™ and MS Visual SourceSafe by making the integration of
other vendor products more cumbersome. It is not as open as PowerBuilder.
ADO is the data access standard that VB follows. This is another Microsoft
self-imposed standard which is currently being followed only by the
Microsoft set of tools.
■ Application Server Integration
Integration with EAServer means that PowerBuilder developers can use either
the COM or CORBA object models for distributed component development.
PowerBuilder nonvisual objects can be deployed as CORBA compliant compo-
nents into EAServer making these components available to any front-end. The
ease of component development with PowerBuilder is unsurpassed and now
includes remote debugging. PB can also deploy COM components into MTS.
VB runs only on Microsoft’s MTS application server and conforms only to
the COM object model.
■ Suitability to Task
2
PowerBuilder 8.0 is suited to develop small, medium, and large enterprise applica-
tions. Business data and business logic are easily encapsulated with the PowerBuilder
object model and PowerBuilder allows you to deploy easily to virtually any platform
when using EAServer. The Web-targets and EAServer integration enhancements
make PowerBuilder a strong tool for developing distributed applications.
PowerBuilder client applications can also connect to Enterprise JavaBeans™
(EJB’s) in EAServer, further leveraging the accessibility it has to multi-faceted
components.
VB is best suited to developing only small to medium-sized applications due
to shortcomings in reusability capabilities. The VB model does not support
any Java access, therefore the proliferation of Java servers and components
are inaccessible.
PowerBuilder 8.0 Feature
Strengths vs. VB 6.0
continued

■ Release Migration

PowerBuilder’s source code migration is easy.

VB users have no easy or clear migration path to .Net. It would appear most
VB 6 applications will not be forward compatible with the .NET initiative. It
would appear that more VB 6 apps will need some type of modification.This
seems to indicate that the .NET language of choice would be C#, being that
it has been formulated as a Java competitor. This seems to leave the VB
community out in the cold.

■ Scalability
PowerBuilder can be used to develop applications for small, medium, or large
client-server applications. It can also be used in distributed environments.

Visual Basic is primarily suited for developing small to medium-sized client-

server applications, and Microsoft-centric distributed components. The
object models follow the Microsoft standards only, making the product
not as open.

Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0

PowerBuilder 8.0 Object Orientation
Advantages Over VB 6.0
■ Built-in Controls ■ Industry Standard Object Model Support
PowerBuilder ships with a standard class set of 175 controls with the ability PowerBuilder can be compiled into COM components. The integration with
to create custom classes based on any of these controls. The product also ships EAServer allows PowerBuilder code to be deployed as a CORBA component
with a comprehensive class library to facilitate the development of enterprise and makes PB components accessible from any front-end tool. Additionally,
class client-server and distributed applications and components. In addition, PowerBuilder 8 provides access to deployed EJB’s in EAServer, opening addi-
any OLE or ActiveX® control is accessible from within the PowerBuilder envi- tional access avenues.
ronment.
Visual Basic supports only the Microsoft COM model and allows compo-
nents to be built only as ActiveX controls which can be deployed only into
■ External Controls
an MTS or COM environment.
OLE and ActiveX controls can be easily added to the PowerBuilder
environment, or accessed via the built-in OLE support. ■ Other (Mail, OLE, etc.)
PowerBuilder supports MAPI directly and other protocols through third party
■ Internet Controls
controls. Access to EAServer also means that PB has access to the full range of
PB contains several controls geared towards internet access, but its defining the J2EE™ implementation, including JavaMail.
attribute is the integration of the PowerSite product into the environment. Being
able to develop a full-fledged Web site completely within the environment is
very desirable, while the additional integration with the EAServer product line
makes PowerBuilder a formidable entry in the Internet development world.

Visual Basic does not directly ship with built-in Internet Controls but relies
on 3rd-parties. The downside to this is that because there are no out-of-the-
box Internet Control solutions, additional evaluation time is needed — as 4
well as additional cost and vendor relationships — which adds complexity
and higher overall expense.

Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0

PowerBuilder 8.0 Productivity
Benefits Over VB 6.0
The PB DataWindow maintains an advantage in terms of data access due to its
versatility in data presentation styles, data access support and HTML generation
capabilities. The improvements in the IDE make more functionality accessible
at the developer’s fingertips and the support of the object-oriented development
model provides an advantage for larger scale systems development. VB does not
match up to the availability of options that the PowerBuilder/EAServer integration
offers. Microsoft’s continued anti-Java campaign hurts it in this arena, especially
with the number of Java-based deployments continuing to grow.
■ Developer Productivity
For client-server development, the PowerBuilder Foundation Class Library
(PFC) is superb. A great deal of standard business functionality is built into
the product and aids in developing consistent and standardized client-server
applications. Additionally, the availability of class libraries for distributed
development allows these applications to be migrated to distributed applica-
tions very quickly and relatively pain-free.
The PowerBuilder 8 development environment has several key developer aids
including workspaces, the system tree and tighter integration with EAServer.
Code and/or objects can easily be moved into component form allowing
smooth transition to distributed applications.
The ability to develop a DataWindow, PowerBuilder’s key data-processing
element, and then be able to reuse the DataWindow in a distributed context,
including access from ASP or JSP pages, is a very strong tool, and reduces
overall costs significantly.
■ Productivity Through Reuse
A major strength of PowerBuilder is that of reuse. Visual Basic lacks the ability
to reuse objects. Every PowerBuilder object that is created becomes a reusable
class, and an object can be created as simply as choosing File|Inherit from the
menu and then File|Save to create a new object class. As soon as an object is
Saved for the first time, it is immediately available to any developer or object in
Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
the current application. Sharing across applications is done using either the
class library metaphor or by simply including the library containing the object
class in the project.
The addition of the Powersoft Foundation Class Library (PFC) gives PowerBuilder
a competitive edge. The PFC is a fully-fledged, battle-tested class library and is
capable of supporting the most taxing development effort. It is well written and
covers many areas of common code requirements. Considering that every
PowerBuilder object developed is reusable as a class or class ancestor, this gives
a PowerBuilder developer a collection of classes that rival many C++ class
libraries. Extending the library with custom components is a relatively simple
process. Components can be built in such a way that they need only be included
if they are going to be used. VB’s business-oriented class library is weaker.
The ability for PB to add components at runtime (that were not included when
the application was compiled), is an advantage over Visual Basic as there are
language features within PowerBuilder that support late-binding and dynamic
function calling. So it's possible to write applications that are open to expansion
whereas Visual Basic is an early-binding language and such flexibility would be
much more difficult to build in. With careful design, an application can “build
itself ” at runtime by adjusting the sets of libraries it will include. The
application can be pre-coded to access components that aren’t included at
compile time to facilitate this. Another strength of PowerBuilder is that its code 5
can be generated by external design tools such as Rational Rose and Riverton
HOW. Additionally, included in the PowerBuilder product packaging is a demo
version of Sybase PowerDesigner,® which allows the generation of standard or
PFC-based code based upon data or object models.
■ Third Party Integration
Third party controls such as OCX’s and ActiveX’s are supported easily through
the standard COM interfaces. In addition, the developer has access to any
CORBA components that are accessible via an EAServer connection. A
Wizard quickly lists all of the available components and their methods.
PB 8.0 Development Capability
Advantages Over VB 6.0
Category PowerBuilder 8.0
2-Tier Client-Server Excellent development tool for 2-tier client-server.
Very easy to use, abstracting the complexities of
object-oriented development.
N-Tier With proper design techniques, it is very easy to develop 3-tier
applications using PowerBuilder and EAServer. What sets
EAServer apart from other application servers is the built-in
support for all of the major distributed computing standards,
including CORBA, COM, EJB and native PowerBuilder.
PowerBuilder is extremely capable of developing distributed
client applications. With its capability to use COM and
CORBA interfaces, PowerBuilder clients can leverage a
number of technologies including EJBs.
Internet Devl – Web Client PowerBuilder provides for the development of HTML,
JavaScript, DynaScript, and Web pages that can also include
Java Applets by utilizing the Web DataWindow.®
Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
Visual Basic 6.0
VB does not scale to moderate or enterprise-class
client-server applications.
VB is limited, in terms of breadth of offering, in allowing the
development of components beyond ActiveX for use
in MTS/IIS environments.
VB can be used to develop distributed application clients only
for COM-based servers which limits its reach into and through-
out the enterprise.
VB’s support of dynamic HTML pages for multi-media does
not scale to moderate and enterprise-class systems of larger
complexity. It is oriented toward smaller implementations.
6
PowerBuilder 8.0 Development
Capability Advantages Over VB 6.0
continued
Category
Internet Devl –
Web Server
Internet Devl –
Application Server
Database Applications
Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
PowerBuilder 8.0
PowerBuilder can be used to develop either client-side
HTML, server-side HTML or JavaScript, VBScript and
DynaScript, PB allows the HTML developer to utilize most
web technologies including Java Applets, and the Web
DataWindow provides a powerful mechanism to access
data on the web-server.
The integration with Sybase’s EAServer makes PowerBuilder
a very powerful tool with the ability to develop either
client-side or server-side components. EAServer ships with
the PB product so every developer has access to the appli-
cation server. Can also build COM components to deploy
into MTS. PB will support 3rd-party application servers in
the future.
The DataWindow continues to dominate in terms of ease of
development. Powersoft Foundation Class (PFC) Library
contains inheritable classes tailored toward database appli-
cations with support for complex data linkage, application
management, error handling and more. The DataWindow
as a control within an application is very useful because it
is not linked to a particular data source.
Visual Basic 6.0
Does not support Java or JavaScript. Must be on a
Microsoft platform, which limits you to IIS Web server.
There is no equivalent to the PB DataWindow in VB, so
there is no Web DataWindow equivalent in it either.
VB has no built-in access to other popular application
servers other than COM-compliant application servers,
such as Sybase EAServer. Accessing non COM-compliant
application-servers requires additional resources such as
a COM-CORBA or COM-Java bridge, if available for that
brand of application server, often adding risk, complexity
and expense to such an effort.
ADO (Active Data Object) for data access is not as good
as the DataWindow because a high number of controls
is required to provide what the PB DataWindow provides.
Also, one often must create multiple ADO’s to satisfy a
data requirement, which means setting up their connection 7
information individually.
PB 8.0 Development Environment
Advantages Over VB 6.0

Category PowerBuilder 8.0 Visual Basic 6.0

General The IDE is productive, providing access to all aspects of an
object including its inheritance. Access to components is
straight-forward with a component palette containing the
standard PowerBuilder controls, with extensibility provided
by adding custom controls to the toolbar, or by selecting
objects directly from the development libraries.
The IDE is completely customizable and the developer can
save different layouts for different tasks. AutoText features
aid in developing code by providing dropdown lists of
available options, including functions and events.
Object Property sheets are dynamically generated so that
inherited objects automatically show ancestor variables as
properties in the descendant. Ancestor event and function
scripts are also easily viewed within the class.
Wizards and Assistants are included to aid in developing
common and not so common tasks such as building a
component for EAServer. Generator wizards allow you
to specify the target(s) for every component developed.
Every PowerBuilder object developed in a project is auto-
matically an inheritable class. PowerBuilder does not
require the building of “Templates” as VB does.
Other than being able to develop ActiveX controls for
MTS/IIS environments, VB is not for distributed environments.
There is no access to CORBA® or Java without an addition-
al ActiveX control to do so. This limits the distribution
model that is natively supported by VB.
Other than a Microsoft-oriented environment (IIS/MTS) its
role in the distributed development environment appears
somewhat hazy—often viewed as a good tool to develop
ActiveX controls but nothing more.
Access to developed components is more complex than
PB because it requires that custom controls be added to
the component library before being accessible.This results
in higher out-of-pocket costs for the controls and adminis-
trative costs for managing more vendor relationships.
Also, many of the companies providing controls are
small and potentially financially unstable.
8

Database access is built through the DataWindow Painter

which provides a full-featured SQL designer, “live” data dis-
play, custom presentation styles including graphs, OLE
object imbedding and nested reports. DataWindows can
be sourced from SQL, Stored Procedures or from external
sources such as Component Methods when accessed via
the included application server, EAServer.

Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0

PowerBuilder 8.0 Development
Environment Advantages Over VB 6.0
continued

Category PowerBuilder 8.0 Visual Basic 6.0

Code Handling Syntax-highlighted code and auto-indenting features high-
light the code handling capabilities within PowerBuilder.
Access to all “Code Block” structures is available through a
popup menu. System Functions are also available through
this method.
VB’s code display window is not as structured as PowerBuilder’s.
All code for a form (a window) is displayed in a continuous
stream. With larger, more complex objects, this can lead to
confusion as the demarcation between one function/event
and another is not necessarily clear.

The display window’s events and functions are clearly iden-
tified and code display is limited to a single method at a
time. PB maintains every event/function in a separate
stream so there is no overlap or possible confusion.
Supports Java context Throw, Catch and Finally for graceful
and comprehensive error handling.
Error-handling functions are provided to aid in developing
automatic error-handling. System errors are automatically
handled, and may optionally be handed off directly into
the debugger.
Where method code exceeds 20 lines, development
becomes unwieldy and requires greater effort to organize
and track.
VB does not support the Java contexts Throw, Catch and
Finally error handling. It is still very dependent on the basic
On Error syntax which is less comprehensive when handling
errors.

Garbage Collection aids in cleaning up execution code due

to code omissions by developers. 9
Code Profiler aids in analyzing code for potential problems
or bottleneck analysis.

The System Tree allows object functions or properties to be

dragged and dropped into the code window.

Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0

PowerBuilder 8.0 Development
Environment Advantages Over VB 6.0
continued

Category PowerBuilder 8.0 Visual Basic 6.0

Built-in Reporting PB contains the patented DataWindows within the product VB’s reporting scheme has less robust Web-reporting and
Capabilities and the InfoMaker® query and reporting tool for user- its ADO scheme is not as robust and comprehensive.
enabled report generation.
VB’s reporting styles are restricted versus PB’s built-in
The Web DataWindow is used for both data entry and capabilities.
reporting on the web. PSR’s are used for distributable,
actionable reports. User can still modify certain aspects of
the report even though the producing application is long
since out of the picture.

10

Sybase PowerBuilder vs. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0

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