A look at the work underway around the Clang-based C++Builder Win64x compiler and project system.
Feature Preview: This blog post is based on a pre-release version of the RAD Studio software and it has been written with specific permission by Embarcadero. No feature is committed until the product GA release.
Modern C++ is much more than it was years ago, and its development has become much more rapid. Currently, we support C++23 — the latest approved standard. However, beyond the language standard, we offer a comprehensive layer making software development much more rapid. That was the focus of our work in 13.2.
Table of Contents
Package improvements
Our team has significantly improved package support on Win64x: design-time 64-bit packages, packages containing Delphi units, consuming mixed Delphi and C++ packages, and generation of the package debug information files used by the toolchain. These changes are important for component vendors and for applications already organized around runtime packages, and they allow for higher performance and stability in the IDE.
Compilation in 64-bit IDE
The current Clang-based C++Builder Win64x compiler runs as a separate executable for each compilation. We are adding an in-process compiler, exposed through a DLL, so the IDE can keep the compiler loaded and communicate with it directly.
Build view in C++ Builder 13.2
This is a significant architectural change that has visible effects in the IDE. The compiler can report accurate file and line progress, send structured diagnostics to the Messages view, respond to cancellation more promptly, and avoid some of the overhead of repeatedly starting an external process.
Diagnostics and Cancellation
Compiler errors and warnings are now delivered as structured diagnostics rather than as lines of console text that the IDE has to interpret afterward. This lets the Messages view navigate reliably to the correct file and line and gives the IDE better information while a build is in progress.
Cancellation is another area we have reworked. If you stop a large build, the request reaches the active compiler work directly and the IDE remains responsive while the remaining jobs are shut down. While seemingly insignificant, it matters a lot when a build has been started with the wrong configuration, or when the first error makes the remaining work unnecessary.
Fewer rebuilds and other changes
We have reduced cases where changing Project Options causes more of the project to rebuild than is actually necessary. Other fixes cover resource and DFM paths, icon resources, and invalid circular property definitions. Individually, these are project-system details; together they remove a number of interruptions from an ordinary edit-build-debug session.
Debugger
While not strictly about C++, 13.2 brings significant improvements in the debugger. We have improved the performance of symbol loading and the debugger’s ability to work with large solutions. That works especially well with the updated C++ package management.
Debugger view in C++ Builder 13.2
Conclusion
RAD Studio 13.2 represents a focused, practical investment in the day-to-day C++Builder Win64x development experience. The move to an in-process compiler, structured diagnostics, more responsive cancellation, and smarter rebuild detection all target the same goal: fewer interruptions between writing code and seeing it run.
Package improvements open the door for component vendors and larger applications to fully embrace the Win64x toolchain, while debugger performance gains ensure that navigating complex solutions remains manageable as projects grow.
Taken together, these changes reflect a commitment not just to keeping pace with C++ standards, but to making the full build-and-debug cycle faster, more predictable, and more transparent. We look forward to hearing your feedback when 13.2 reaches general availability.
Feature Preview: This blog post is based on a pre-release version of the RAD Studio software and it has been written with specific permission by Embarcadero. No feature is committed until the product GA release.
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