Top Ten Reasons...
why a dyed-in-the-wool C++ programmer would even care about Delphi, Borland's new Pascal-based development system for Windows (primarily) client-server applications.
- 10 "Version control? We don't need that, do we?" Delphi, unlike other RAD tools, has hooks for PVCS built in to the development environment, with others coming from the various SCM vendors.
- 9 "You want me to code how many more dialog classes?" Delphi eases the burden of repetetive and error-prone class-generation. Unlike most generators, Delphi actively works to keep source and form design in synch, and it leaves your code alone.
- 8 "Pointers? references? but what about objects?" Delphi's syntax hides the complexity of object lifecycle management from ordinary application programmers, freeing them to concentrate on the spec (component builders are another story, but then what did you expect....)
- 7 "What do you mean I can't tell a car to fly?" As with C++, Delphi's strong syntax and type checking allow the compiler to catch many design and coding problems at compile time, before they crash your system. Such rigor is critical for team development efforts, as well.
- 6 "Falling asleep waiting for a ODBC to return data from the server." Delphi is built on top of Borland's highly-tuned, native call interface database engine. No Jet, no PB Interfaces, no ODBC (although you can use ODBC if you want) -- just the data.
- 5 P-code interpretation eating your lunch? Delphi is a product of twelve years worth of experience building tight, fast object code for the Intel platform. Can you say, "an order of magnitude faster (for CPU bound tasks)?" (Because of the language structure, Delphi can often even produce better object code than equivalent C++.)
- 4 "My doctor says I have to get a faster compiler -- I have too much caffeine in my diet now." Borland quotes, and the magazines back them up, 350,000 lines of code compiled per minute on a P90.
- 3 "Exception? Is that like GPF? Or PBStubError?" Delphi implements full object oriented exception handling, with syntax very close to C++ exceptions, along with RTTI and full (single) inheritance. No templates yet, nor multiple inheritance, but you can do an amazing amount of work without them.
- 2 "You mean I have to buy and learn C and at least two SDK's to build components for VB / PB?" As Borland often says, "Delphi is built in Delphi," and in particular the components which come with Delphi are starting places for your own components, which you can build and install into Delphi automagically. The number of freeware and shareware Delphi components available on the 'Net is growing faster than most people can keep up with, all because they can be built in Delphi itself.
- And the number one reason why a dyed-in-the-wool C++ programmer should consider using Delphi: 1 Leverage your knowledge of OOA/D/P to produce components which require little or no learning curve to use, thereby multiplying the effects of your talent across an entire development team. Yes, reuse is possible in C++, but even the clients have to be at least moderately proficient coders to avoid messing up the reused classes; in Delphi, you the designer can package the component so that a novice can use it without writing any code at all!
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming: