Borland's 5.0

Borland C++ 5.0 was warming up on the launchpad as we labored on this roundup. Though Borland 4.53 ($499.95; (800) 233-2444) was available--and we used it in our benchmarking--we chose not to perform an official review of either. Instead, here's a preview of version 5.0, based on our hands-on experience with the beta. We'll take a closer look at 5.0 when the final release ships.

The new Borland C++ 5.0 promises to move in the direction of the more integrated development environments (such as Symantec and Microsoft) and away from the approach of separate executables o rbiting the IDE. It will also move more components into the IDE and will provide true background compilation.

Unlike Visual C++, the Borland C++ 5.0 compiler will still let you target 16-bit platforms (Windows and DOS) from a single host. Borland chose this backward compatibility (rather than including a separate compiler, as does Microsoft) because of research showing that users are not jumping to 32-bit environments all at once.

Borland's ObjectWindows Library (OWL) will leap from version 2.5 (the current version bundled with the 4.53 compiler) to version 5.0, bolstered with a variety of Windows 95-type controls. OWL will not, however, be the only application framework recognized by the 5.0 compiler. Borland C++ 5.0 will support the latest version of MFC and will include the Rogue Wave standard C++ library, which includes the standard template library.

Borland C++ 5.0's IDE will also be outfitted with a scripting language. Borland describes ObjectScripting as being very C++-like, which means that a C++ programmer will already have a leg up on the language rather than being forced to switc h mental gears to deal with a BASIC clone. Borland promises that the language will provide access to most of the IDE's internals, beyond the capabilities of the scripting language found in Symantec C++. For example, you could create a script that automatically locates all the source files in a particular directory, gathers them into a project, then builds the project.

With its C++ 5.0, Borland will incorporate the database package as part of the compiler package. Compiler developers will thus have access to the Borland database engine, which is explained in the sidebar "Keys to the Enterprise." .

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Borland C++ 5.0

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The u pcoming version 5.0 of Borland C++ will incorporate more executables into the integrated development environment, making it more competitive with Microsoft and Symantec compilers.