If you're a 30-something and a programmer, there's one thing that you know. Borland! More specifically, classic borland. Turbo Pascal and Turbo C++ to be exact. Those were the days. I thought it was the coolest thing back in the day when I was at STCC. It's amazing how far we've come. Now I cringe at the thought of trying to do any type of editing at a console level.
Back to the nastalgia though. It's mostly due to fond memories, but I was pretty excited to learn that in the current mess that is Borland trying to re-invent themselves, they are spinning off their developer tools group. As part of this change, they are going back to their roots. In doing so, they are releasing what I'm betting is mostly re-packaged versions of their products as "turbo" products. Turbo Delphi, Turbo C#, Turbo C++, and Turbo Delphi for .Net. These products will be available in both an Explorer and a Professional version. The Explorer versions will be free! The nicest part about Turbo C++ is that your programs can be compiled completely into an executable. No run-time crap required. That was always one of my favorite things about the borland products.
Nevertheless, I've moved on to other languages, other tools, and other directions. But it won't stop me from checking them out. Who knows, maybe the next release of my chess engine will be attempted with Turbo C++. If it's more standards based than Microsoft's Visual C++ - then it's got a chance. I don't think that Borland will ever return to their former glory, but it's nice to see them trying.
Here's the link: Turbo Explorer
And for now - back to trying to fix my brothers computer.
Take care, Ed.
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