X

Sybase revamps C++ tool

The company's Powersoft division delivers the first rewrite of several promised for its tools lineup.

Mike Ricciuti Staff writer, CNET News
Mike Ricciuti joined CNET in 1996. He is now CNET News' Boston-based executive editor and east coast bureau chief, serving as department editor for business technology and software covered by CNET News, Reviews, and Download.com. E-mail Mike.
See full bio
Mike Ricciuti
2 min read
Sybase (SYBS) is making good on its promise to revamp its tools line, one step at a time.

Next week, the company's Powersoft division will deliver Power++ 2.0, a renamed and reworked version of its Optima++ C++ compiler and toolset that simplifies development of Web applications for C++ programmers.

Powersoft officials last month detailed an extensive revamp of the company's Java, C++, and other development tools.

As promised, Power++ will include the ability to generate server-based ActiveX components, making it attractive to developers building component-based Web applications. The ActiveX components let developers construct applications that use a middle-tier transaction server, such as Sybase's Jaguar CTS, or the Microsoft Transaction Server, said Tina Lorentz, technical marketing specialist at Powersoft.

The tool will also generate applications that support common Web server application programming interfaces (APIs), including Microsoft's Internet Server API and Netscape Communication's Netscape Server API.

Lorentz said Sybase has spent considerable effort reworking C++ to be used as a server-side programming tool. Sybase has built a component framework which allows developers to build server applications as easily as client graphical interfaces, she said.

Programmers have used C++ for client applications for years. Lorentz said Java tool are now staking a claim to client application programming, and C++--far from being pushed out to pasture--is being adapted for server development. She said C++ has a performance advantage over Java for server-side use.

Power++ 2.0 is priced from $499 for a basic desktop package to $1,999 for a full enterprise edition which includes database connectivity tools and Sybase's NetImpact Dynamo Web page generation tool.

The next version of the tool will allow developers to build visual ActiveX components for use in client applications, said Lorentz.

The company also plans to begin beta testing a new version of its core tool, PowerBuilder, code-named Panther, later this spring. Also slated for delivery soon is company's Java development tool, called PowerJ; a beta version of NetImpact Studio, now called PowerSite; and shipment of S-Designor version 6.0.