As far as database access goes, yes it is on par with Delphi4. It uses the same forms as D4 (although you can use MFC, OWL, or resource scripts), the same data access tools, and both Delphi and C++ builder can use each others compiled objects. I personally prefer Delphi because I have more experience with Pascal, but both are great as far as data access. The C++ builder has more compiler optimizations than Delphi does.