Compiler basics – PB Docs 125

Pcode

Pcode (short for pseudocode) is an interpreted language that
is supported on all PowerBuilder platforms. This is the same format
that PowerBuilder uses in libraries (PBL files) to store individual
objects in an executable state. Advantages of Pcode include its
size, reliability, and portability.

Machine code

PowerBuilder generates and compiles code to create a machine
code executable or dynamic library. The key advantage of machine
code is speed of execution.

PowerBuilder DLLs cannot be called

PowerBuilder machine code DLLs cannot be called from other
applications.

Deciding which one to use

Here are some guidelines to help you decide whether Pcode
or machine code is right for your project:

• Speed

  If your application does intensive script processing, you
  might want to consider using machine code. It will perform better
  than Pcode if your code makes heavy use of looping constructs, floating
  point or integer arithmetic, or function calls. If your application
  does not have these characteristics, machine code does not perform
  noticeably better than Pcode. If you think your application might
  benefit from the use of machine code, perform some benchmark testing
  to find out.

  Pcode is faster to generate than machine code. Even if you
  plan to distribute your application using machine code, you might
  want to use Pcode when you want to quickly create an executable
  version of an application for testing.

• Size

  The files generated for Pcode are smaller than those generated
  for machine code. If your application is to be deployed on computers
  where file size is a major issue, or if you deploy it using a Web
  download or file transfer, then you might decide to give up the
  speed of machine code and choose Pcode instead.