Delphi 13.1 Released, with ARM64 support
Comments
lpcvoid
CodesInChaos
I think C#'s WinForms is just as productive as Delphi's VCL. Unfortunately Microsoft abandoned it. Though I only used older versions of Delphi, so I don't know if recent improvements made it pull ahead.
However both have limitations in more complex areas, such as rich text (html), data binding and targeting mobile and desktop with a mostly shared code-base.
cosmotic
WinForms isn't Win32, and it's still supported.
pjmlp
Like MFC, it is a thin layer over Win32.
HauntingPin
What's the relationship between Delphi and Lazarus?
KronisLV
Delphi is commercial: https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi/product-editions
Lazarus is free with no artificial limitations, for FreePascal: https://www.lazarus-ide.org/
tonyedgecombe
Pascal
pjmlp
I disagree, because C++ Builder also exists. :)
Although .NET also follows along, pity that it took so many years for Microsoft to actually care about native compilation beyond NGEN.
OCTAGRAM
Did .NET manage to get rid of unsolicited tracing garbage collection?
pjmlp
Depends on how you write program, there are enough language features for low level coding and value types.
Additionally lets not pretend Delphi doesn't have issues with memory and resources tracking.
Even the whole reference counting support only applies to COM types, or when targeting Apple platforms.
Which have had various changes to their behaviour across Delphi version.
Other than that it is as it has always been since Turbo Pascal days.
baal80spam
Is it? What about Autohotkey, or Visual Studio?
mauriciolange
Two very different solutions. Autohotkey is a scripting language for specific tasks, while Delphi is unbounded in this sense. And Visual Studio has no RAD concept.
sumnole
Visual Studio has WinForms, which is pretty RAD.
NetMageSCW
And I think preferable to the XML split of code and GUI that is web like and how Microsoft’s other frameworks work.
anakaine
It is absolutely preferable in that sense. The web-esq interface approach is far harder than it needs to be for small applications with basic interfaces.
nazgulsenpai
Glad to see Delphi still alive and being developed. I never used it much but I did use C++ Builder Explorer or something that they released for free probably 10+ years ago. Also does anyone remember Kylix, Borland's short lived Delphi for Linux?
Unimportant tangent, but I think FireMonkey is a terrible name for a UI framework. I don't know why, but I hate it.
vbezhenar
From $960 + $399/year.
I think it's quite an accomplishment to survive in the modern world of free software development tools.
wongarsu
The C# world also has quite a few paid libraries, especially for UI stuff.
Quite a few years ago I worked at a company using Delphi, and judging by their homepage they are still using it. A company making industrial machinery, with a tiny internal software department for the software for provisioning and maintaining the machines, as well as the control room software. Usability and development velocity is more important than looking hip, and easy access to hardware interfaces is paramount. And compared to developer salaries those license costs really aren't that bad
piokoch
There are companies using Delphi-based products for long years (for a good reason, this is still great technology) so they prefer to pay.
_fizz_buzz_
There is still a lot of legacy software out there. I worked on something for a little bit (probably around 10 years ago).
OCTAGRAM
New Delphi software is welcome!
pjmlp
On Microsoft, Apple, and game consoles, it is still pretty common to pay for development tools.
Also pretty common in enterprise tooling, which is the market of tools like Delphi.
The alternative is everyone getting surprised that their favourite free software development tools (only free thanks to VC money), eventually goes away.
ronsor
Mostly Microsoft (inertia, you're already paying) and game consoles (expensive SDK/dev-kit licensing with NDA crap).
I see it less on Apple platforms except for published applications and niche tools.
pjmlp
There are many other computers out there.
You already paid for XCode via their beloved hardware margins.
musicale
What about that $99 yearly developer fee?
(Technically it is optional if you don't need to ship signed apps or submit to the app store and you don't care about the rest of Apple's developer program.)
pjmlp
That is on top, I guess.
giancarlostoro
Yeah, I'm surprised they haven't just made a hobbyist tier. Especially when FreePascal allows you to make UIs with Lazarus for free.
vbezhenar
They have free community edition. Main restriction seems to be: "If you're an individual, you may use Delphi CE to create apps for your own use and apps that you can sell until your revenue reaches US$5,000 per year."
So should be perfectly enough for hobbyist.
giancarlostoro
I tried it, it would not compile some of the templates it came with for me. Their QA process must be terrible.
1899-12-30
It's cheaper to pay that than rewrite in a better language.
OCTAGRAM
Better language = Ada?
OCTAGRAM
Community Edition is free
andsoitis
Delphi's great. You can rapidly create apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
davikr
I tried Lazarus recently, but I found the IDE to be slow.
1313ed01
I have not tried the IDE, but I like FreePascal. The compiler is fast and it has great multiplatform and cross-compilation support. In particular for older platforms.
It feels more stable and mature than most other languages. I do not know if there are enough developers keeping it alive, but hopefully it will mostly get bug fixes and ports to new platforms. Better if they do not mess with the language or standard libraries. Those that want a programming language that keeps breaking backwards compatibility every few months have plenty to choose from already.
wolvesechoes
Slow compared to what? It is snappier than Vscode, VS or Jetbrains UIs.
Delphi is still the absolute fastest way to create win32 gui applications, and anybody who disagrees has never used it.
Lazarus is a pretty sweet solution on Linux (or Codetyphoon, if you want more out of the box components).