There's no denying it. We're living in an n-tier world, especially since the release of PowerBuilder 7.0 and the Web DataWindow. It's almost counterintuitively caused many PB developers to ask themselves questions like: "What am I going to do with my client/server PowerBuilder skills? Where is the market going? Do I have to learn Java and JavaScript? Or C++? Or VB and VBScript?"

As the manager at Sybase most immediately responsible for the future of PowerBuilder, I'm going to offer some clear-cut answers to these questions.

Future Lives, Future Livings: Careers for PowerBuilder Developers
There are three distinct, yet interrelated, career paths available to PowerBuilder developers:

1. Creating and maintaining client/server PowerBuilder applications
2. Migrating your PowerBuilder code to the Web, and...
3. Don't look now - you're a Web developer!

With these three rich career paths in mind, ask yourself now which kind of PowerBuilder developer you'd like to become. How far would you like PowerBuilder to take you?

Client/Server: Like a Rock
Client/server is very much alive; organizations around the world have amassed mountains of client/server code. Because the Web paradigm is inappropriate for many in-house projects (these applications generally don't demand the scalability associated with e-commerce and middleware), a significant number of applications will continue to be built according to the stable, proven, client/server model.

PowerBuilder 8.0: More Functionality,
Productivity for Client/Server
Anticipating your ever-increasing need for speed, we've built a number of important new or enhanced productivity features into the next major release of PowerBuilder. Chief among these:

• Library painter: Now also displays all the objects in your computer's file system
• Improved exception handling: similar to the implementation found in Java
• Build and deploy PowerBuilder applications from the command line: schedule compiles
• Autoscript
• Source code control: improved team development
• Powerscript: new file and printer system functions

If your working life revolves around client/server development, rest easy. Armed with your current PowerBuilder skills, you're well prepared to meet the development chal-lenges of the future.

You Can Take It with You: PowerBuilder Code in Your Next Life
Are you thinking about migrating your client/server applications to the Web? Good news: you don't have to start from scratch, incurring the risk and expense you'd expect. Happily, you can take your existing PowerBuilder encapsulated objects with you and deploy them to Sybase EAServer as PowerBuilder components.

"Legacy" PowerBuilder Code
Perhaps you're concerned about the health of your code. Maybe you're working with an undocumented PowerBuilder 6 application - and the original developer retired to Costa Rica. Depending on the scope of your endeavor, we've designed solutions to help you get from tiers 1 and 2 to tier n:

• Online Documentation: Most migration issues are readily addressed by Sybase reference materials, available online at www.sybase.com/support.
• Sybase Professional Services (SPS): My colleague, practice manager Mitch Federman, recently explained to me that his professional services team was able to show a defense-industry client how Sybase's eMAP migration services "would reduce their time to deployment, trim their development costs, and eliminate the risk associated with rewriting their PowerBuilder code." The client had previously consulted other application server vendors, all of whom said they'd have to recode in Java. Instead, SPS showed the firm how to "leverage its PowerBuilder investment by identifying which PowerBuilder applications and objects to migrate to the [EAServer] application server" and which to leave alone. (SPS is available for customized consulting and turnkey services.)

"New" PowerBuilder Code: Coexisting with EJB, CORBA, COM
On the other hand, if your business logic is already stored in nonvisual objects, you're ready to begin a new life as a developer of multitier applications.

PowerBuilder 7 and the upcoming version 8.0 dramatically simplify the process of migrating to the middle tier. Easy-to-use wizards allow you to deploy your modified PowerBuilder NVOs to Sybase EAServer (where they can coexist with a variety of other component types) - making your previously coded business logic available to a host of new Web, Java, C++, and other applications via the application server.

To make your life even easier, we've included a development edition of Sybase EAServer in the box with PowerBuilder 8.0.

The Promised Land - Here Already?
You're a Web Developer and You Didn't Even Know It
With PowerBuilder, the transition from client/server developer to Web developer is no great leap. Everything you need is in the box: Web DataWindow, application server, HTML generator, migration wizards, and seamlessly integrated PowerSite functionality (v8.0).

A Single, Unified Development Environment
Now, with PowerBuilder 8.0, you can develop and deploy business logic to EAServer with 4GL ease. You can create an HTML client interface (complete with autoformatting, client-side validation, calculated fields, and managed database connections) without leaving PowerBuilder.

The Big Opportunity
PowerBuilder's new functionality is exciting because it allows your PB code to execute alongside Java, C, C++, and other components within the EAServer application server platform. This puts you in direct proximity to new career opportunities within the expanding Web enterprise.

All because you develop with PowerBuilder.