Sybase PowerBuilder 12 Makes Microsoft .NET Application Development Faster, Easier, and More Cost Effective

Sybase Delivers efficient migration from Win32 to .NET, Native Support for
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Seamless Support for the
.NET Framework

Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), an industry leader in delivering enterprise and mobile software, announced the availability of Sybase® PowerBuilder® 12. This latest generation of Sybase's award-winning rapid application development tool empowers developers with the easiest, fastest and most cost-effective path to create or migrate their business applications on the Microsoft® .NET Framework, for thoroughly modern and visually appealing application user experiences.

"For years, Sybase PowerBuilder has remained a bastion of application development productivity for a wide class of enterprise applications that combine heavy database orientation with a highly productive graphical user interface (GUI)," said Al Hilwa, program director for IDC's Application Development Software research. "The direction that PowerBuilder has taken to become a seamless Windows® .NET environment with the Visual Studio shell incorporated into its infrastructure means that the product can now be considered equally for evolving existing systems and for developing new ones for traditional Windows 32 environments and for .NET."

The new Sybase PowerBuilder 12 architecture works with Microsoft's Visual Studio infrastructure to deliver the highest level of application development productivity for PowerBuilder developers on the .NET Framework. PowerBuilder 12 still requires only about five lines of code – instead of hundreds in another language – to access powerful business logic using its patented DataWindow® technology. With the DataWindow now re-written in C#, PowerBuilder 12 also produces managed code and natively supports Microsoft WPF, giving developers even more productivity, flexibility, and security. Also, it is the only product that allows customers to leverage their existing Win32® code and seamlessly migrate to the .NET Framework, saving the expense and complexities of re-writing.

"PowerBuilder 12 is one of the most significant releases in the product's history, enabling new and existing PowerBuilder developers to deliver RIA, Web, mobile and desktop .NET applications via end-to-end managed code" said David Tong, vice president of Engineering, Sybase. "We are continually investing in and evolving PowerBuilder to increase developer productivity. Version 12 cements Sybase's lead in supporting .NET with comprehensive language and migration support, and positions us to more rapidly adopt Microsoft advancements to the .NET platform."

"Our organization designs and delivers rich media eLearning solutions for the IT industry, and some of our staff have been working continuously with Sybase PowerBuilder for over 13 years," said Yakov Werde, president, eLearnIT, LLC. "From its earliest technology preview release, we have used PowerBuilder 12 to migrate legacy applications to .NET and create prototypes, proof of concepts, and production quality applications. The Sybase product team has created a truly innovative solution that builds a bridge to the future by merging PowerBuilder RAD capabilities within a .NET infrastructure."

Sybase ships PowerBuilder with two self-contained IDEs. The first is designed for Windows 32-based development to build and maintain Win32 applications and migrate existing code to Windows Forms and WebForms. The second is a new comprehensive IDE for migration of existing code to Windows Presentation Foundation applications, building new Windows Presentation Foundation-based applications and deploying 100 percent managed code on top of the Microsoft Visual Studio shell, all with existing PowerBuilder skills.

Other key new features and benefits include: