@OtoichiDelphi was originally developed by Borland as a rapid application development tool for Windows and successor to Turbo Pascal. Delphi added full object-orientation to the existing Pascal language. Over the years, the language has grown to support other modern language features like generics and anonymous methods, as well as unusual features such as virtual class constructors and class references. One of Delphi’s creators, Anders Hejlsberg, was the original author of Turbo Pascal. He later architected C# and TypeScript at Microsoft Delphi was one of the original codenames for the new tool when it was in development. Why Delphi? First class database access was a core feature from inception. The idea was “If you want to talk to [the] Oracle, go to Delphi.” The year Delphi was introduced (1995) remains a great year for programming languages. Java and JavaScript came along that year while languages like Ruby, PHP, and Lua are just a little older. Delphi’s PME (Property-Method-Event) architecture has inﬂuenced Java and C# in signiﬁcant ways. Delphi also shares a lot with C#, even the architect! A similarity is the way virtual methods are deﬁned (and overridden), which is shared in Delphi and C# and different from Java or C++. Today, Delphi continues to evolve under the umbrella of Embarcadero. Delphi is a modern language, and its IDE remains focused on delivering the fast development speed of its RAD predecessors. Delphi accomplishes this while providing a complete OOP foundation that allows developers to embrace more complex architectures for larger applications as well. How does Delphi do it? With the component model that is still fundamental today: a large set of core multi-platform non-visual components, the rich Windows VCL library, and the power of the multi-device FireMonkey framework. The result is that you can target Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS with single-source applications comprising both business logic and user interface. In addition, third-party components (built by partners in the Delphi ecosystem) accelerate the development of your Delphi applications. Delphi is recognized as one of the fastest approaches to application development. Ever since Delphi took the challenge from Visual Basic—to deliver the same easy-visual development process, but based on a robust OOP architecture unlike VB—it’s been the industry standard-bearer for rapid application development. A second code name for Delphi was VBK (where K for was Killer), and in fact Delphi ended up outliving the now deprecated Microsoft tool.2WHAT IS DELPHI? IF YOU WANT TO TALK TO [THE] ORACLE, GO TO DELPHI3@Otoichi4The Delphi Developer Community is core to the long-term success of the language and tools. We are extremely proud of the global network of amazing developers that work with Delphi. We are experiencing a rebirth of Delphi, developers are rediscovering the importance of visual object oriented development. Young people are trying Delphi again—liking what they see—and using it to build interesting apps. The Delphi Developer Community has grown tremendously and the engagement metrics point to exciting days ahead.We had over 10K participants in our recent Delphi Boot Camps representing some 201 countries! Our growing community consists of 100s of thousands of people across the globe. We’ve seen our followers on Facebook and other platforms increase dramatically. You are probably already part of the big community, but if you aren’t, consider joining. 201 COUNTRIESSTRONG45Discover more at: https://community.embarcadero.com/or get social on:56The Visual Component Library (VCL) is the original Delphi components library that includes both visual and nonvisual components. The library is a high-level framework encapsulating the Windows API, platform controls, and standard UI elements and features. It also extends beyond standard controls with dozens of sophisticated custom controls. The VCL was and is the best object-oriented library wrapping of the Windows API. It offers the RAD style of development (dragging and dropping components on forms, data modules, and other containers), and includes visual form inheritance and designers composition using frames. The VCL has a modern architecture based on the command patterns (using Action objects and ActionList that separate the UI elements from the code). At the same time, the VCL is a full OOP library; a developer can leverage it without using any designer or RAD model. Instead, the designer would implement a number of patterns including MVVM or dependency injection. There are open source libraries offering direct support for these and other patterns. In terms of modern UI, the VCL has full support for styling. Replacing the old Windows look and feel with a modern Windows 10 style requires very limited changes to the code. Additionally, the VCL includes components mimicking the Windows 10 UI controls (like CalendarView or ToggleSwitch), so that the code using those controls can run equally on older versions of the operating system. Importantly, the VCL doesn’t just wrap the classic Windows API. Delphi offers full access to Windows COM interfaces, Windows Shell integration (with ready-to-use components like the Taskbar), and even Windows 10 modern WinRT APIs (with ready-to-use components like the NotiﬁcationManager). THE MOST POWERFUL FRAMEWORK FOR WINDOWSNATIVE APPLICATIONSNot only does the VCL come with hundreds of components and controls in the box, but there are dozens of third-party vendors offering hundreds of additional components. Companies such as DevExpress, Steema, TMS, Mitov, and more build components for the robust VCL ecosystem. In sum, with the VCL developers can create Windows applications in a fraction of the time it takes developers using other development tools, and they can leverage all of the platform’s APIs. Even better, thanks to the Windows Desktop Bridge (aka Centennial Bridge) your VCL applications can be converted to the Universal Windows Platform and can be published to the Windows 10 Store.7FireMonkey is the multi-device application framework behind RAD Studio, Delphi, and C++Builder. It is designed for teams building native apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Developers use it to get apps to app stores and enterprises quickly. We provide a full application stack that includes user interface, database, networking, inter-device communication, and other cross-platform libraries. FireMonkey applications leverage the full power of today’s hardware with native performance and GPU-accelerated visuals on PCs, tablets, and mobile devices while providing full access to platform APIs. We do not offer a “lowest common denominator” experience across platforms, as other cross-platform tools do. Instead, we provide full-featured, powerful libraries in their own right as well as full access to the native platform if required.User interfaceThe FireMonkey UI framework is a next-generation design that leapfrogs all the other cross-platform frameworks. It runs on the GPU, meaning it is extremely fast at scale while enjoying high quality display. The FireUI Multi-Device designer is the most important part—it allows you to design a user interface once, and create variations as needed per device or platform. 8Going Cross-Platform with FireMonkey@OtoichiBuilding separate UIs for multiple platforms is one of the lengthiest processes in application design. It is common for developers to build an iOS UI, and build a completely separate Android UI (using different tools in a different language), doubling the development effort. With FireMonkey you can create a UI once, and rely on the intelligent platform services to adapt the UI to each platform. Tuning instead of duplicate effort FireUI gives you the freedom to make slight changes that apply to each platform. These changes can be as simple or dramatic as desired, or even override platform default behaviors. This gives designers the freedom to create consistent user interfaces, which changes the paradigm from duplicate development (a huge time waste) to merely tuning for a device or platform. The result, a huge savings in development time and costs. With other tools, an app developer might create an iOS user interface in Xcode and Swift while also having to write an Android user interface in Android Studio and Java. Despite both UIs being very similar, the efforts to write each one are entirely duplicate with no shared work. In contrast, developers using FireMonkey create an interface once. The developer would then make per-application tweaks, in the iOS version ensuring one control is presented using the native implementation; in Android, adjusting spacing and colors for material design. FireMonkey apps can be styled, and a developer may also choose to apply a different style for each platform. The entire UI, controls and code logic, is a single shared effort. Not only is the effort cut in half, but bug ﬁxes made for one version can apply for the other. A single language is used instead of having two branches and two development teams.Easier to supportThis uniﬁed development also makes it easier to support applications. The same features and functionality are present on all platforms, which is contrary to the siloed development you get when using diverse development tools. Each platform must maintain its own release schedule and bug list, creating extra work. With releases leapfrogging functionality from platform to platform, this leads to frustrated users and complicated support.9Dream Solutions, Ltd. of New Zealand creates the Light Factory software used by the Niagara Falls Illumination Board to light Niagara Falls. The software uses both VCL and FireMonkey; the backend control software is written in VCL, and the frontend user interface side is written in FireMonkey. Next >