Originally developed by Borland, as of 2009[update] it is owned by Embarcadero Technologies, a subsidiary of Idera.
It includes tools that allow drag-and-drop visual development, making programming easier by incorporating a WYSIWYG graphical user interface builder.
C++Builder is the sibling product of Delphi, an IDE that uses the Object Pascal programming language.
C++Builder combines the Visual Component Library (VCL) and IDE written in Object Pascal with multiple C++ compilers.
Notable shared Delphi (Object Pascal code) and C++ Builder routines include the FastMM4 memory manager, which was developed as a community effort within the FastCode project, the entire UI framework known as the VCL, which is written in Object Pascal, as well as base system routines, many of which have been optimised for both Delphi and C++Builder through the FastCode project.
The current version by Embarcadero supports cross-platform development using the new Firemonkey (FMX) library.
[4] The company released a retail version on February 26, 1997,[5] in three editions: "Standard," "Professional," and "Client/Server Suite.
New features include:[7] On March 22, 2000, Inprise Corporation announced the release of Borland C++Builder 5, available in Enterprise, Professional, Standard editions.
New features include:[11] Minimum supported operating system was changed to Windows 98.
After purchasing CodeGear, Embarcadero Technologies bundled C++Builder with Delphi and other tools and released them as RAD Studio.