PowerBuilder is an object-centric graphical application development environment. Using PowerBuilder, you can easily develop many types of applications and components. PowerBuilder provides all the tools you need to build enterprise systems, such as order entry, accounting, and manufacturing systems.
PowerBuilder applications can be traditional graphical client/server two-tier applications that access server databases. A traditional client/server application is a collection of windows that contain controls that users can interact with. You can use standard controls—such as buttons, check boxes, drop-down lists, and edit controls—as well as special PowerBuilder controls that make your applications easy to develop and easy to use.
You can also build multitier applications with PowerBuilder. A multitier application usually has a client application that requests services from a server application or component. For example, your client application could request services from a PowerBuilder component on an application server. The server component often requests services from a server database and/or other server components.
PowerBuilder applications can also be Web based. You can create a new Web-based application for the Internet or Intranet, or adapt or extend an existing PowerBuilder application for the Web.
