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I miss Delphi

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: I miss Delphi

#2

Post by dvh » 

    - empty form will have 24+16 lines of code in 2 files
    - you will have to pay 3000 per seat per 6 months to make a website
    - it only works on windows
    - hello world have full access to all user's data
    - you paid 3000 and it still cannot reliably add main icon to your app (XE6)
    - you cannot increment build number from command line
    - no job posting in last 12 months
    - nobody is using it

Re: I miss Delphi

#4

Post by jlebrech »

dvh wrote: post #2

- empty form will have 24+16 lines of code in 2 files - you will have to pay 3000 per seat per 6 months to make a website - it only works on windows - hello world have full access to all user's data - you paid 3000 and it still cannot reliably add main icon to your app (XE6) - you cannot increment build number from command line - no job posting in last 12 months - nobody is using it

fair point, still no one is in the RAD market anymore.

Re: I miss Delphi

#5

Post by jarjoura »

Delphi had its place in 2001 along with NeXT's WebObjects. Products of their time for sure.

However, the developer inspectors alone inside of Chrome and Safari are 100x more powerful than any of those old UI tools of the past.

Re: I miss Delphi

#6

Post by pjmlp »

Me too, that is why I try to stick with native development with Java, .NET (all its variants), Android, iOS stacks whenever possible.

Re: I miss Delphi

#7

Post by seanp2k2 »

dvh wrote: post #2

- empty form will have 24+16 lines of code in 2 files - you will have to pay 3000 per seat per 6 months to make a website - it only works on windows - hello world have full access to all user's data - you paid 3000 and it still cannot reliably add main icon to your app (XE6) - you cannot increment build number from command line - no job posting in last 12 months - nobody is using it

VB6 and Planet Source Code also have lots of nostalgia for me. Fun times with AIM toolz, Half-Life cheats, and crackme.exes.

Re: I miss Delphi

#9

Post by badminton1 »

You have major open source libraries like GTK, wxWidgets, Qt. Also .NET, Java which offer multiple ways of doing forms that are tied to the target platform. In addition, RealBasic (now Xojo) and... Delphi.

After Borland, other companies continued working with Delphi, namely, Embarcadero: https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi

Now, the prices can be a bit prohibitive. I would try one of the open source ones.

Re: I miss Delphi

#10

Post by pron »

pjmlp wrote: post #6

Me too, that is why I try to stick with native development with Java, .NET (all its variants), Android, iOS stacks whenever possible.

I recently had to write a desktop GUI app, and chose Electron[1] because I figured that for once I'd try something new and hip with lots of OSS libraries because it wasn't too critical and I needed to pass it on to someone else and figured there are lots of frontend web devs around. Well, it's kinda OK, but man, that thing is held together with spit and baling wire, and you feel like it's all going to come down with the slightest breeze. The previous GUI app I'd built was in Java/Swing, and while I wouldn't call the experience particularly pleasant, at least it felt solid.

[1]: + TypeScript + Polymer

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