Re: Delphi 2.0 vs. Powerbuilder 5.0

Bryan Keller <bryan_at_seigler.com> wrote:

>> Interesting you should mention Watcom C++. PowerBuilder 5.0 allows you to
>> compile to native code - it uses the Watcom C compiler to create the
>> executable.
 

>You failed to mention that it'll take you all afternoon to compile your PB app and
>it's performance still won't get anywhere near Delphi 2's.

The fact that people seem to keep forgetting when discussing benchmarketing is that a typical client/server database application spends more time waiting for server responses than it does waiting for relatively small scripts to execute. In the tests I've performed I have confirmed that Delphi is indeed faster, sometimes twice as fast. Of course I've had to iterate the test 10,000 times to actually see that difference. So if after 10,000 iterations it takes PB 20 seconds and Delphi 10 seconds, a significant difference of 10 seconds, a single iteration will take result in a performance boost of a whopping 0.001 seconds. At this point the performance issue, in my mind, is a non-issue, because to get even a perceivable difference (say .5 seconds) you have to run the process 500 times. I don't know what kind of systems you're building, but I don't write a lot of business systems that perform an operation that many times in a tight loop. They may do something that many times over the course of an hour, but a .5 second difference over the course of 3600 seconds is insignificant.

On the other hand, if you're building utility applications (WinCode v2.7.x, a uuencode/decode utility is built in Delphi) then I agree 100% that you should be using Delphi (or Optima ++ or VC++ or VB or Borland C++), because that's not what PowerBuilder is good at (in fact it's lousy at it when you consider the support DLL's that must still be shipped).

So in summary, Delphi is faster, but in your typical client/server business application, it doesn't make a hoot of difference.

---
Craig Wagner		| E-mail:  wagnerc_at_teleport.com
Certified PowerBuilder	| Phone: (503) 636-2648
 Developer Professional | Portland, OR USA
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