Why decoupling Runtime and IDE
The PowerBuilder runtime files are now separated from the
PowerBuilder IDE, as an independent component “PowerBuilder
Runtime”.
The decoupling of Runtime and IDE makes it possible to install
and upgrade IDE and Runtime separately, and one IDE and native C/S
application can work with multiple runtime versions without needing to
upgrade IDE or re-compile the application. For example, in the
previous versions, when there was a new release, especially a release
with new features or bug fixes on the runtime, if the developer wants
to test it, s/he will have to configure a new environment or back up
the existing environment before installing the new release, to avoid
affecting the existing application. And now that Runtime is separated
as an independent component, multiple runtime versions can be
installed on the same machine, developers can switch to the new
runtime version with only one click in the IDE, and if any issue is
found, s/he can switch back to the original runtime in seconds; or if
testing goes successfully, s/he can distribute the new runtime files
with the application executable and configure the application
executable to use the new runtime immediately without re-compiling the
application executable.