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Interestingly I just Googled Borland to see what they do these days: http://www.borland.com/Products http://www.borland.com/Products Seems like they made quite

by junto 11y ago

Interestingly I just Googled Borland to see what they do these days: http://www.borland.com/Products http://www.borland.com/Products Seems like they made quite a major pivot?

72deluxe 11y ago
I used Borland C++ Builder and their version of it in the XP - Windows 7 days, when they released Codegear 7. As far as I knew many of the developers left after they renamed themselves Inprise ("integrating the enterprise" whatever that means), decided to produce odd products that targeted an entirely different audience and after they ditched all the development work on C++ Studio (I think that was what it was called). I remember them introducing Kylix and the disappointment of it being based on Qt and Wine so slow on my old Linux box. The VCL stagnated too (horrible flicker on XP as I recall, to begin with so hacks to disable theming via the application manifest were needed) and the compiler let you do illegal things in C++ in Codegear's C++ Builder 7 (must dig out an example). The installer for C++ Builder 7 took FOREVER to run and also required you keep all of your setup files in your temp directory for later updates to work (???? insane eh!) I remember them releasing a paid PHP editor etc. at the time when you could just grab Netbeans and use that for £0.00 - difficult to compete with that!
- tonyedgecombe 11y ago
  After that PHP editor I vowed to never by another product from them, it was truly awful.
lucifersam 11y ago
Yes, quite some time back they split the languages and compilers part out and the rump of Borland became an application lifecycle management company, or something like that. The bit you're probably looking for is at http://www.embarcadero.com/ http://www.embarcadero.com/ now. Some of the old people like David Intersimone are still there. I worked with Delphi for a long time, through versions 3, 5 and 7 (the odd numbers were always better). When .NET came, the whole situation went crazy and never recovered. I can't remember the twists and turns now, but I think they released a .NET only RAD Studio which was awful, then they added the Win32 bits back but Delphi.NET was still awful. Then they dropped .NET and incorporated Remobjects Chrome/Oxygene as Delphi Prism, which was an Object Pascal inspired .NET language. Now they've split again, and Radstudio is all about Firemonkey, a cross-platform UI library. Remobjects are doing their own thing.
- jimmcslim 11y ago
  I've been working with Delphi for the last 18 months; previously Java and .Net many years before that, but Delphi in the distant, distant past. In my opinion, Delphi needs to just die, and the people/companies that have code bases built on it need to rewrite. There are lots of choices for software development these days, I don't think Delphi stands out for any particular use case in the modern world. But hey, maybe I'm just bitter after RAD Studio crashed on me one too many times...
  - nickpsecurity 11y ago
    Compared to VC++, it was easier to learn, read, write, make reliable apps, and extend. I could teach anyone a Wirth language. The Go community is learning the benefits of Pascal-style design. People wanting a new Delphi should probably use Go. Just because Delphi stagnated and died off. Anyone wanting Pascal/Delphi today should use Lazaurus IDE w/ Free Pascal Compiler. Compatible with Delphi where it mattered, aiming for better in other areas, open-source, and cross-platform. Best use case is a C or C++ replacement that's safer, easy to read, and supports computers with little resources. Go's not there yet on runtime side.
    - Xixi 11y ago
      Most people writing Delphi code in 2015 do it to maintain legacy Windows desktop applications. I don't think you can do that with Go. The most logical replacement would still be C# (or another language running on .net) with WinRT (or more likely WPF: I mean if you are still using Delphi you are probably not using Windows 8/10...).
      - nickpsecurity 11y ago
        Funny you say that cuz I picked it for future proofing. I specifically wanted it to be the legacy language instead of C++ in case the talent was short many years down the line. That proved out haha. ;)
    - amyjess 11y ago
vidarh 11y ago
They've been rotating at high speed for the better part of the last two decades. Starting around the time of Philippe Khan's departure.

by junto 11y ago

Interestingly I just Googled Borland to see what they do these days: http://www.borland.com/Products http://www.borland.com/Products Seems like they made quite a major pivot?

72deluxe 11y ago

I used Borland C++ Builder and their version of it in the XP - Windows 7 days, when they released Codegear 7. As far as I knew many of the developers left after they renamed themselves Inprise ("integrating the enterprise" whatever that means), decided to produce odd products that targeted an entirely different audience and after they ditched all the development work on C++ Studio (I think that was what it was called). I remember them introducing Kylix and the disappointment of it being based on Qt and Wine so slow on my old Linux box. The VCL stagnated too (horrible flicker on XP as I recall, to begin with so hacks to disable theming via the application manifest were needed) and the compiler let you do illegal things in C++ in Codegear's C++ Builder 7 (must dig out an example). The installer for C++ Builder 7 took FOREVER to run and also required you keep all of your setup files in your temp directory for later updates to work (???? insane eh!) I remember them releasing a paid PHP editor etc. at the time when you could just grab Netbeans and use that for £0.00 - difficult to compete with that!

tonyedgecombe 11y ago
After that PHP editor I vowed to never by another product from them, it was truly awful.

lucifersam 11y ago

Yes, quite some time back they split the languages and compilers part out and the rump of Borland became an application lifecycle management company, or something like that. The bit you're probably looking for is at http://www.embarcadero.com/ http://www.embarcadero.com/ now. Some of the old people like David Intersimone are still there. I worked with Delphi for a long time, through versions 3, 5 and 7 (the odd numbers were always better). When .NET came, the whole situation went crazy and never recovered. I can't remember the twists and turns now, but I think they released a .NET only RAD Studio which was awful, then they added the Win32 bits back but Delphi.NET was still awful. Then they dropped .NET and incorporated Remobjects Chrome/Oxygene as Delphi Prism, which was an Object Pascal inspired .NET language. Now they've split again, and Radstudio is all about Firemonkey, a cross-platform UI library. Remobjects are doing their own thing.

jimmcslim 11y ago
I've been working with Delphi for the last 18 months; previously Java and .Net many years before that, but Delphi in the distant, distant past. In my opinion, Delphi needs to just die, and the people/companies that have code bases built on it need to rewrite. There are lots of choices for software development these days, I don't think Delphi stands out for any particular use case in the modern world. But hey, maybe I'm just bitter after RAD Studio crashed on me one too many times...
- nickpsecurity 11y ago
  Compared to VC++, it was easier to learn, read, write, make reliable apps, and extend. I could teach anyone a Wirth language. The Go community is learning the benefits of Pascal-style design. People wanting a new Delphi should probably use Go. Just because Delphi stagnated and died off. Anyone wanting Pascal/Delphi today should use Lazaurus IDE w/ Free Pascal Compiler. Compatible with Delphi where it mattered, aiming for better in other areas, open-source, and cross-platform. Best use case is a C or C++ replacement that's safer, easy to read, and supports computers with little resources. Go's not there yet on runtime side.
  - Xixi 11y ago
    Most people writing Delphi code in 2015 do it to maintain legacy Windows desktop applications. I don't think you can do that with Go. The most logical replacement would still be C# (or another language running on .net) with WinRT (or more likely WPF: I mean if you are still using Delphi you are probably not using Windows 8/10...).
    - nickpsecurity 11y ago
      Funny you say that cuz I picked it for future proofing. I specifically wanted it to be the legacy language instead of C++ in case the talent was short many years down the line. That proved out haha. ;)
  - amyjess 11y ago

vidarh 11y ago

They've been rotating at high speed for the better part of the last two decades. Starting around the time of Philippe Khan's departure.