Borland C# Builder Most of the tools reviewed in this chapter are complementary to Visual Studio .NET. In many ways, Borland C# Builder is different because it really competes with Visual Studio .NET as an alternative integrated development environment. However, C# Builder, as the name suggests, is focused strictly on the C# programming language. This isn't too bad if you consider that C# is slowly emerging as the most popular .NET programming language for .NET application development. C# Builder is available in four editions: Personal, Professional, Enterprise, and Architect. The Architect edition, which contains functionalities such as J2EE/CORBA interoperability and integrated UML modeling, was used as the basis of this initial review. Key highlights of C# Builder (Architect Edition) include the following: -
Support for automatic C# Roundtrip engineering using Borland Together technology. -
A code obfuscator, WiseOwl Demeanor for Borland C# Builder. -
Bidirectional interpretability with J2EE (shown in Figure 6.3) and CORBA components using Borland Janeva Developer Edition. Figure 6.3. Using Borland C# Builder with EJB components.  -
Support for developing C# GUI/console applications, class libraries, control libraries, ECO applications, ASP.NET Web applications, ASP.NET Web service applications, and Web Control library. -
Integrated support for developing Crystal Reports. -
Borland Data Providers for .NET, which provides a performance-centric unified ADO.NET connectivity to popular relational databases, including SQL Server, Oracle, and IBM DB2. -
Developer edition of SQL Server, DB2, and Borland Interbase database products. -
InstallShield Express Borland Edition. -
Source code integration with Borland StartTeam, CVS, Rational ClearCase, and Microsoft Visual SourceSafe. -
An Enterprise Core Objects (ECO) class library for developing enterprise applications. ECO includes capabilities such as transactions, persistence mapping (RDBMS/XML), object versioning, caching, and data-enabled .NET UI controls. To get more information on Borland C# Builder or to get a trial version of the product, visit http://www.borland.com/csharpbuilder. |
