The 14th of February is soon at hand, and for many around the world, this day symbolises love and affection. Indeed, as a software developer, it has specific significance, as it was that day, 27 years ago, that one of the most significant contributions to the software development industry was born out of Scotts Valley and the offices of Borland.
— Keep reading to find the free downloadable InfoDocs, packed full of useful resources —
Back then, Bill Clinton was President, Windows 3.1 was the main OS in town, and a development team led by Anders Hejlsberg (who later created C# and is now the core developer of TypeScript) released Delphi.
Delphi’s influence on the development landscape is one that is clearly visible and highly relevant, even to the latest development projects. The concepts around Object Orientated Programming, Interfaces, Components and the Property Method Event design structures is one most developers today will be well-founded in.
Thanks to the continued evolution of the Delphi Frameworks, such as FireMonkey, RAD Server and FireDAC, including (what is probably) the deepest Windows API integration on the market, Delphi continues to flourish and is having somewhat of a renaissance. RAD is very much back in trend and 27 years head start, and over a decade with cross-platform true native compilation is making Delphi the choice for modern projects.
How do new Delphi developers getting started?
Delphi has a strong following in education around the world, with many countries primarily focusing on Object Pascal and Delphi to teach computer science. Supporting developers who get started has seen a number of new sites in recent years. including learndelphi.org and also www.embarcaderoacademy.com
To help, find all the best places to look, the following infodocs are a great resource.
Getting back to Delphi?
For those developers who have worked with Delphi before, the main focus is getting back up to speed with the latest IDE and language features. Which is actually been made simpler thanks to a host of recent IDE updates. (including menu organisation and icon updates for HighDPI and improved usability) .
For old projects that you want to move forward, the path is well-trodden, and Delphi continues to have exceptional backwards compatibility making this simple to do. There are also included tools such as reFind that help automate component updates (especially helpful for anyone still using the BDE or ADO).
Developing for Mobile
One exceptional part of the RAD experience with Delphi is how it combines native compilation for all platforms. This means a true single source code base can be used across mobile, allowing you to reach each platform at the same time.
If you are new to mobile development, or looking to do it for the first time with RAD Studio (as you want the speed, and security of the true native applications) The Getting Started with Mobile Development Infodoc is a great place to start
If you just want to get nostalgic about Delphi, then check out delphi.embarcadero.com
The post Delphi 27th Birthday #Delphi27th appeared first on Stephen Ball’s Technical Blog.