0.1What is WinDev (and WEBDEV / WinDev Mobile)?
The essentials in 30 seconds
- WinDev is an integrated development environment (IDE) published by PC SOFT for quickly creating business applications: everything is provided and consistent.
- Its strength is RAD: quickly generating a working application from the data model, rather than coding everything by hand.
- One common foundation for the range: WinDev (Windows/Linux), WEBDEV (web) and WinDev Mobile (iOS/Android) share WLangage and the analysis.
Mini-case thread — Yacine leaves spreadsheets for WinDev
Yacine is building a management application for an electrical equipment trading SME in Oran: customers, products, orders, invoices and stock. At first, everything fits into spreadsheets exchanged by email; as soon as stock moves, the same data must be re-entered in several places. Yacine discovers WinDev, an integrated development environment (IDE) published by PC SOFT: in a single consistent environment, he has WLangage (a language with French keywords), the HFSQL database, a window editor, a report editor and a debugger. The RAD philosophy appeals to him: from the analysis (the customers-products-orders model), WinDev can generate a first working application. He keeps the rule in mind: WinDev excels at business applications that handle data — exactly his line of work.
Standalone case for this section: it returns in the course, the diagram, the script and the 48h challenge of section 0.1.
1. The PC SOFT integrated workshop
WinDev is an integrated development environment (IDE) published by the French company PC SOFT, designed to create business applications for Windows (and Linux/Mac). Where classic development forces you to assemble a language, a database, an interface editor, a report generator and an installation tool yourself, WinDev provides everything in one consistent environment. That is its number-one argument: Yacine does not install a stack of heterogeneous tools; he works in a workshop where everything is designed to work together.
2. RAD, WLangage and HFSQL
WinDev's philosophy boils down to RAD (Rapid Application Development): quickly generating a working application from the data model, rather than coding everything by hand. The code is written in WLangage, a proprietary language with French keywords (an English version exists): simple and readable, but specific to the PC SOFT world. The built-in database is HFSQL. For Yacine, this means: he describes his customers, products and orders, and the workshop turns them into windows, queries and reports.
3. One range, one common foundation
The PC SOFT range includes WinDev (Windows/Linux applications), WEBDEV (websites and web applications) and WinDev Mobile (iOS/Android). All three share WLangage and the analysis: you capitalize from one platform to another. It is a commercial product (paid license, free trial version) with a new major version every year. Yacine starts with the desktop version, intending to open a web variant of his management application later.
🔎 Concrete example — 🔎 Concrete example — RAD in action at Yacine's
WinDev generated the window and the table from the analysis; Yacine only writes the replenishment business rule:
// Replenishment alert — electrical equipment trading
nSeuil est un entier = 5
POUR TOUT Produit
SI Produit.Stock < nSeuil ALORS
TableAjouteLigne(TAB_Reappro, Produit.Reference, Produit.Stock)
FIN
FINReading: the workshop provides the window, the table and the data binding; Yacine only adds the business rule.
Lesson: RAD goes fast because the analysis already carries the structure.
Section vocabulary
- WinDev
- PC SOFT integrated development environment (IDE) for quickly creating business applications.
Simple example: Yacine develops the complete management of his trading business there.
What it is not: a simple text editor for writing code.
Reflex: fast business app → WinDev.
- RAD
- Rapid application development: generating a working application from the data model.
Simple example: Yacine lets WinDev generate the windows from the analysis.
What it is not: coding everything by hand, screen by screen.
Reflex: save time → RAD.
- WLangage
- WinDev's proprietary language, with French keywords; easy to read, specific to PC SOFT.
Simple example: Yacine writes the replenishment rule in WLangage.
What it is not: a universal language transferable everywhere.
Reflex: readable French code → WLangage.
- HFSQL
- Built-in database provided with WinDev (Classic or Client/Server).
Simple example: Yacine stores customers, products and orders there.
What it is not: a simple spreadsheet shared by email.
Reflex: built-in database → HFSQL.
- The PC SOFT range
- WinDev (Windows/Linux), WEBDEV (web), WinDev Mobile (iOS/Android): same WLangage, same analysis.
Simple example: Yacine plans a web version of his management application later.
What it is not: three tools with no common foundation.
Reflex: capitalize across platforms → same analysis.
In practice — In practice — placing WinDev and its use
- Check whether your need matches WinDev's target: a business application handling data (customers, stock, orders), like Yacine.
- Identify the components of the integrated workshop: window editor, analysis (database), WLangage (code), report editor (prints), deployment.
- Place the range: WinDev (Windows/Linux), WEBDEV (web), WinDev Mobile (iOS/Android) — same language, same analysis.
- Note the commercial model: paid license with a free trial version, and a new major version every year.
Step-by-step script — Yacine's first WLangage reflex
// List the products to replenish (electrical equipment trading) sReference est une chaîne POUR TOUT Produit sReference = Produit.Reference SI Produit.Stock < 5 ALORS Trace("À réapprovisionner : " + sReference) FIN FIN
Yacine tests WinDev on a real need: it is the best judge of the gain brought by RAD.
Copy-paste template — WLangage skeleton for a business screen
// Template — fill a table from the Product file (Yacine's analysis)
PROCEDURE AfficherListeProduits()
TableSupprimeTout(TAB_Produits)
POUR TOUT Produit
TableAjouteLigne(TAB_Produits, Produit.Reference, Produit.Designation, Produit.Stock)
FIN
FINBusiness application
Yacine covers customers, products, orders, invoices and stock in a single WinDev application.
Business target
Yacine confirms that data management is WinDev's natural ground, not games or intensive computing.
Consistent range
Yacine realizes that a future WEBDEV site would reuse the same WLangage and the same analysis.
Commercial model
Yacine spots the free trial before any eventual license purchase.
✓ Best practices
- Start from a business need: it is WinDev's natural ground.
- Use RAD: let the workshop generate, then complete the business logic.
- Remember that WLangage is specific to the PC SOFT world.
✗ Common pitfalls
- Comparing WinDev to a simple language (it is an integrated workshop).
- Expecting WinDev to build video games or scientific computing.
- Believing that WLangage transfers as-is to Java or C#.
Key takeaways
- WinDev is a PC SOFT integrated development environment for quickly creating business applications.
- Its strength is integration: WLangage, HFSQL, window and report editors, debugger, deployment in one environment.
- The philosophy is RAD: quickly generate an application from the data model; code is written in WLangage (French keywords).
- The WinDev / WEBDEV / WinDev Mobile range shares WLangage and the analysis: you capitalize across platforms.
48h challenge — apply it tomorrow
Like Yacine, take a business need from your daily life (customers, items, orders) and write in three lines: the list of data to handle, a business rule to automate, and why an integrated workshop like WinDev saves time compared with spreadsheets.
- I know what WinDev is and what it is for (business applications).
- I distinguish RAD, WLangage and HFSQL.
- I place WinDev, WEBDEV and WinDev Mobile within the PC SOFT range.
Frequently asked questions
For which projects is WinDev a good choice, and for which is it not?
WinDev is excellent for enterprise business applications (data, forms, reports) that must be developed quickly by a small team: that is Yacine's case (customers, products, orders, stock). It is much less suitable for video games, intensive scientific computing or very large-scale consumer platforms, where other technologies are better suited.
Is French-language WLangage an advantage or a drawback?
Both. It is a real asset for accessibility and readability for a French-speaking audience (Yacine reads "SI Produit.Stock < 5 ALORS" without mastering English), and all PC SOFT documentation is in French. The drawback is transferability: WLangage is used only in the PC SOFT world, even though the concepts (variables, loops, OOP, SQL) remain transferable.
What is WinDev?