Software Conference Visits Bay City

Sunbelt Computer Systems holds annual User Conference at Doubletree

September 19, 2004
By: Stephen Kent

Sunbelt Computer Systems of Tyler, Texas is holding it's annual software conference in Bay City this week.

Over 50 key software developers from almost as many companies and from as far away as New Zealand, Germany, England, Belgium, the Neatherlands, and Canada, have converged on the Doubletree and downtown Bay City for the conference.

Sunbelt is one of the leading companies providing computer programming tools for the ANSI standard PL/B language. Sunbelt's Visual PL/B application development software is used internationally to develop high end business applications for Windows and Linux systems.

The User's conference, which has been held annually for over 20 years, provides a forum for the introduction of new technology and programming methods, and updates on existing products. A major focus deals with the impact of changes Microsoft has made to it's various Windows products.

The PL/B language traces its roots to the early 1970's and Datapoint computers. Known at that time as "Databus", the language pioneered the effective use of small computers and local area networks for business applications. With the birth of the PC in the early 80's, a strong demand grew for an effective business programming language. Databus was a natural solution and a number of companies began to fill the demand. Sunbelt was one of the first.

PL/B became an ANSI standard language in the early 90's. PL/B and COBOL are the two standards for "business" programming. The "Visual PL/B" programming environment has greatly enhanced the standard and now provides a total business solution for the Windows and Linux computing world.

The conference will run through Wednesday.