Borland C++


Borland C++ is a C and C++ IDE released by Borland for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. It was the successor to Turbo C++ and included a better debugger, the Turbo Debugger, which was written in protected-mode DOS.

Libraries

Object Windows Library : A set of C++ classes to make it easier to develop professional graphical Windows applications.
Turbo Vision: A set of C++ classes to create professional applications in DOS. Those classes mimics some of the aspects of a Windows application like: dialog boxes, messages pumps, menus, accelerators, etc.
Borland Graphics Interface: A library of functions for doing simple, presentation-style 2D graphics. Drivers were included for generic CGA, EGA and VGA capability, with support for a limited number of video-modes, but more advanced, third-party drivers were also available.

Add-ons

Borland Power Pack for DOS: Used to create 16- and 32-bit protected mode DOS applications, which can access a limited scope of the Windows API and call functions in any Windows DLL.
Borland Code Guard: Once installed and integrated within the IDE, Code Guard can insert instrumentation code in the final executable that can be used to monitor: pointer usage, API calls, how many times some function is called, and other features. If some error is found, a pop-up window appears, the debugger can stop, or a log is written to disk. Delivered for 16- and 32-bit applications.

Version history

Borland C++ for MS-DOS, Windows

  • 2.0
  • 3.0 : New compiler support to build Microsoft Windows applications.
  • 3.1 : Introduction of Windows-based IDE and application frameworks
  • 4.0 : MS-DOS IDE supported no longer, included OWL 2.0.
  • 4.01
  • 4.02
  • 4.5
  • 4.51
  • 4.52 : Official support for Windows 95, OWL 2.5. Last version
  • 4.53
  • 5.0, 1996-06-25: Basic version includes Borland C++ 4.52, ObjectWindows Library 5.0, Sun's Java Development Kit, Borland Debugger for Java, native 32-bit ObjectScripting IDE, Visual Database Tools. Development suite also includes CodeGuard 32/16, PVCS Version Manager, InstallShield Express, and AppAccelerator Just-in-Time for Java compiler. Development Suite with Design Tools version adds Scenario View Editor, Scenario View Editor, Object Model Editor to Development Suite edition. Supports compilation of Windows 3.1/95/[Windows Windows NT|NT 3.51|NT 3.51] and DOS native executables, with Windows 3.1 integrated development environment supported via BC++ 4.52. It does not work on Windows NT 4.0. 3rd party tests exhibited some problems on NT 4.0. C++ compiler can support ObjectWindows Library 5.0, Microsoft Foundation Classes 3.2/4.0 libraries. Note that even in this version, the "huge" memory model DOS target of the compiler does not generate the required code to manipulate huge pointers - you instead need to declare every pointer as "char huge *" etc - unlike both Microsoft and Watcom compilers.
  • 5.01 : Base version now includes ViewSoft's Power Charger for MFC demo, Borland Delphi 2.0 Trial Edition, DeltaPoint's QuickSite automatic web page creation and site management tool; with ObjectWindows Library updated to 5.01. Design Tools edition includes Together/C++ object-oriented analysis and design tools over Development Suite edition.
  • 5.02 : Final independent release of the Borland C++ IDE, final release to support compilation to MS-DOS target. New features include Windows NT 4.0 operating system support, MFC 4.1 library support, code signing. All versions include full OWL and MFC source codes. Corresponding to Borland C++Builder 3, the CD version of Borland C++ is free by mailing the in-box coupon from C++Builder 3 Professional package. Registered Borland C++ 5 owners can receive update for discount.

Borland C++ Compiler

  • 5.5 : Based on Borland C++Builder 5, it is a freeware compiler without the IDE from the parent product. Includes Borland C++ Compiler v5.5, Borland Turbo Incremental Linker, Borland Resource Compiler / Binder, C++ Win32 Preprocessor, ANSI/OEM character set file conversion utility, Import Definitions utility to provide information about DLLs, Import Library utility to create import libraries from DLLs, Borland Turbo Dump, Librarian, Borland C/C++ Runtime Library, ANSI/ISO Standard Template Library.

C++Builder with C++ bundle

  • Borland C++ Builder 4.0 + Borland C++ 5.02 : Bundle combination to facilitate the migration to C++Builder.

Borland C++ for OS/2

  • Borland C++ 1.0
  • Borland C++ 1.5
  • Borland C++ 2.0, 1995-06-01 ): Supports OS/2 2.1 and Warp 3, OWL for Presentation Manager 2.0 library. SMART toolset edition includes Source Migration Analysis Reporting Toolset developed by One Up Corporation for automatic migration of 16/32-bit Windows and 16-bit OS/2 codes to 32-bit OS/2.

Borland C++ (Builder) Mobile Edition

Designed to be integrated with Borland C++Builder 6, initial release was to be released in late November 2002, and bundled with Borland C++Builder 6 Enterprise and Professional editions.
On April 29, 2003, Borland Software Corporation announced the release of Borland C++ Mobile Edition for Series 60, Nokia Edition. It includes a version of Borland C++Builder 6, Series 60 Software Development Kit for Symbian OS, Nokia Edition, C++ Mobile Edition plug-in.
C++ Mobile Edition is also available as a separate plug-in for C++Builder 6, supporting all except Trial Editions.

Evolution of Borland C++

Borland C++ evolved in a number of steps: