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Why I Choose Delphi

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Re: Why I Choose Delphi

#21

Post by nurettin »

Delphi 10.2 was advertised to support making Linux web services, so I decided to put it to test. I created a Windows Apache module, added a Linux 64bit target, added a data provider and a database connection. The idea is to provide the database as a soap service on Linux to get a quick and cheap(!) Data layer.

The provider plays nicely with the client dataset and let's you interact with UI elements, sending automatic updates to the database through the soap service.

So when I switched to the Linux build, I noticed that data provider component in the components toolbar was disabled. That means it isn't supported on Linux.

Tricking the IDE with a Windows project, placing the provider in a data module and switching it to Linux target, I tried to get it to work on Apache. No response from soap.

After a couple of hours of eyeballing and recompiling the provided Delphi sources, I realized that the support is actually there, but there were some programming errors such as not implementing the entire interface, and somehow the memory manager behaved weirdly on Linux, causing another interface to go nil while refcount still didn't reach zero.

All in all, Delphi makes it easy to build Windows applications, complete with data layers and Model-view style. I just wish they would hurry up with the Linux server support.

Re: Why I Choose Delphi

#23

Post by protomyth »

vacri wrote: post #17
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are doing commercial work the cost is easy to justify. My main concern would be whether you can continue to activate it if Embarcadero drops support or goes out of business.

You'll also have a smaller pool of candidates you can hire, no?

If you hire by checklist then yes. Otherwise, I would expect any competent programmer to be able to grasp Delphi.

Re: Why I Choose Delphi

#24

Post by klipt »

skrebbel wrote: post #14

I'm very sad that Delphi is so inaccessible for hobbyists. In some spare hours I'm building a native app in Qt, but I'd have definitely built it with Delphi if I wouldn't have had to cough up 3000 dollars just to get started. In all frankness I don't get why Embarcadero doesn't copy Qt's licensing. If they make a free GPL version, Delphi-based open source could thrive while just about everybody who buys a license now…

Have you tried the Delphi compatible but open source https://www.lazarus-ide.org/

Re: Why I Choose Delphi

#26

Post by tylerflick »

protomyth wrote: post #23
vacri wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll also have a smaller pool of candidates you can hire, no?

If you hire by checklist then yes. Otherwise, I would expect any competent programmer to be able to grasp Delphi.

I was hired as a C# dev out of college. 6 months in, a legacy Delphi app was dropped in my lap for maintenance. It took me about a month to get up to speed, but after that it was just another platform/language.

Re: Why I Choose Delphi

#27

Post by theGimp »

nurettin wrote: post #12
epx wrote: post #3

I liked Delphi a lot, as I liked Clipper a lot, but technology moved on.

I am glad a lot of people think like this. Less competition.

Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face-to-face conversation. Avoid gratuitous negativity.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Why I Choose Delphi

#30

Post by linopolus »

Oh, memories from the past..

Delphi 2005 was my introduction to computers and programming, first in a course given by the local technical university, later in regular school. Wasn't embarcadero back then, but Borland I think. Neckhold either way. I liked how the development worked, and think it wasn't a bad environment to first learn programming.

Anyway, that were years of fun, but I, as most, moved on..

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