9 ms·

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'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 would still be required to buy a license.

problems 9y ago
If you're looking for something more Deplhi-like, why don't you just use .NET? Mostly open source now, tons of 3rd party libraries and component packages available for it, just like Delphi in its glory days.
- skrebbel 9y ago
  Because I want a UI that works on Windows and macOS out of the box. Plus I want it to have a tiny memory/CPU footprint and while .NET/WPF is better than the average Electron app I still notice a difference.
  - problems 9y ago
    Definitely a good reason to use Qt, but you wouldn't get that with Delphi either. Qt is probably the best looking build-once, run with an acceptable UI package anywhere in that market. EDIT: Just saw your second addition... not so sure I'd agree though, the performance on startup of .NET applications these days is quite excellent and I haven't been able to tell for years, but I've been on SSDs with lots of RAM on recent chips I suppose.
    - int_19h 9y ago
      Delphi footprint is actually less than Qt in many cases (at least of older versions, don't know about the new ones). Don't forget that VCL wraps native widgets, so there's a lot less code in there.
  - duncan_bayne 9y ago
    Have you tried Racket?
    - JohnStrange 9y ago
      I'm programming desktop applications in Racket, but unfortunately for many purposes it is, as of now, too slow. Especially application startup time is painful, and text% and other essential components of the GUI are way too sluggish for professional end-consumer applications. Maybe the Chez-based rewrite will help, but I'm not betting on it. Parts of the GUI library are just too complicated, and sometimes for no good reason (for example, style lists or the way it deals with snips internally). I'm probably ending up with prototyping in Racket and writing the final application in Qt or Lazarus.
  - Kipters 9y ago
    You can get an UI that works on both (WinForms or GTK#), or you can use the native UI frameworks
    - problems 9y ago
      I believe there's a few things under .NET that try to wrap multiple UI libraries to varying levels of success too however none of them are as mature as Qt for a nice multiplatform UI in my opinion.
  - j_s 9y ago
    Golang + Facebook's C flexbox yoga? Not sure it covers all the bases but it's a new option! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14928177 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14928177
- gaius 9y ago
  Isn't the same guy behind both Delphi and C#? Anders Hjelsberg if memory serves.
  - mercer 9y ago
    Also TypeScript!
    - Stratoscope 9y ago
      And Turbo Pascal!
  - davnicwil 9y ago
    Yes. And also more recently, Typescript. Quite a career!
  - interfixus 9y ago
    Let me offer my apologies on behalf of the Danish nation for what we have foisted upon the world: Hejlberg's C#, Stroustrup's C++, Lerdorf's PHP, and Heinemeier Hansson's RoR. TP and Delphi, obviously, require no apologies.
    - int_19h 9y ago
      Nothing's wrong with C#. When it came, it was a "better Java" in many respects, and that was a niche that was desperately begging to be filled. Over the years, it became even better at it.
      - interfixus 9y ago
        I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it. It's just me being old school and curmudgeonly - not really hot on runtimes and complex dependencies. Although of course, if I really need it, Nim will compile my wonderfull code to js. Otherwise just singe, compact, standalone executables for any platform I care to imagine. And yes, the language itself is a joy to code in. Which is opinion, not fact, I realize that.
- dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago
  The UI construction on Delphi is a pleasure. Does something comparable exist for .NET?
  - mb_72 9y ago
    Maybe I'm missing something here, but Visual Studio? https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/ https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/
  - omgtehlion 9y ago
    WinForms, it is not 'cool' nowadays, but works exactly like VCL+delphi ui designer
    - mintplant 9y ago
      Eto.Forms if you're going cross-platform.
    - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
      WinForms is a bit of a mess when you want to support high-dpi.
      - throwaway7645 9y ago
        You can switch to WPF at that point I think.
        tonyedgecombe 9y ago
        Which is like wading through treacle, I'm convinced we have taken as many steps backwards as forwards when it comes to desktop development.
klipt 9y ago
Have you tried the Delphi compatible but open source https://www.lazarus-ide.org/ https://www.lazarus-ide.org/
- skrebbel 9y ago
  Admittedly, I haven't. I've Read On The Internet(tm) that it isn't as good as plain Delphi, but in all honesty I really should give it a chance indeed. Thanks!
  - nurettin 9y ago
    There is an online package manager and a docking IDE package (if you are into single window IDEs) in the latest Lazarus 1.8rc3, so they are slowly getting there.
SyneRyder 9y ago
There's Delphi Starter Edition, which is free for freeware / personal use projects, and 'free' for commercial apps until you've earned $1000 in total revenue. (At which point, they want you to buy a ~$2000 license. Hmm.) https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi/starter https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi/starter
- nurettin 9y ago
  When I tried it, it didn't allow me to use third party components in design time. And only 32bit demo compiler is distributed. (Can't be used from command line)
- JohnStrange 9y ago
  That's the annoying thing. Why don't these companies say you can use it for free or for cheap until you've earned 10000 in total, and then you have to buy a license that costs less. That way you could put the money aside in your calculations and it would be no problem. The DAW Reaper has this kind of licence, you only have to buy the commercial version if you make more than 20,000 USD gross revenue per year. It's the same with commercial CommonLisps, I'd love to use one, but the pricing is ridiculous for small companies / hobby programmers. That doesn't add up, you'd have to be 100% sure that you'll earn more than X dollars with your application and you can never be sure of that.
- TMSZ 9y ago
  I think Delphi Started has same limitation as C++ Builder Starter - removed most of debugging functionality (e.g. local variables window). It may be not critical with small applications, but I would rather have "no commercial", no 3rd party components or code size limitation than crippled IDE. I've tried to switch from Turbo C++ Explorer 2006 (this was also free version) to C++ Builder 10.1 Starter and I prefer old one.

problems 9y ago

If you're looking for something more Deplhi-like, why don't you just use .NET? Mostly open source now, tons of 3rd party libraries and component packages available for it, just like Delphi in its glory days.

skrebbel 9y ago
Because I want a UI that works on Windows and macOS out of the box. Plus I want it to have a tiny memory/CPU footprint and while .NET/WPF is better than the average Electron app I still notice a difference.
- problems 9y ago
  Definitely a good reason to use Qt, but you wouldn't get that with Delphi either. Qt is probably the best looking build-once, run with an acceptable UI package anywhere in that market. EDIT: Just saw your second addition... not so sure I'd agree though, the performance on startup of .NET applications these days is quite excellent and I haven't been able to tell for years, but I've been on SSDs with lots of RAM on recent chips I suppose.
  - int_19h 9y ago
    Delphi footprint is actually less than Qt in many cases (at least of older versions, don't know about the new ones). Don't forget that VCL wraps native widgets, so there's a lot less code in there.
- duncan_bayne 9y ago
  Have you tried Racket?
  - JohnStrange 9y ago
    I'm programming desktop applications in Racket, but unfortunately for many purposes it is, as of now, too slow. Especially application startup time is painful, and text% and other essential components of the GUI are way too sluggish for professional end-consumer applications. Maybe the Chez-based rewrite will help, but I'm not betting on it. Parts of the GUI library are just too complicated, and sometimes for no good reason (for example, style lists or the way it deals with snips internally). I'm probably ending up with prototyping in Racket and writing the final application in Qt or Lazarus.
- Kipters 9y ago
  You can get an UI that works on both (WinForms or GTK#), or you can use the native UI frameworks
  - problems 9y ago
    I believe there's a few things under .NET that try to wrap multiple UI libraries to varying levels of success too however none of them are as mature as Qt for a nice multiplatform UI in my opinion.
- j_s 9y ago
  Golang + Facebook's C flexbox yoga? Not sure it covers all the bases but it's a new option! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14928177 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14928177
gaius 9y ago
Isn't the same guy behind both Delphi and C#? Anders Hjelsberg if memory serves.
- mercer 9y ago
  Also TypeScript!
  - Stratoscope 9y ago
    And Turbo Pascal!
- davnicwil 9y ago
  Yes. And also more recently, Typescript. Quite a career!
- interfixus 9y ago
  Let me offer my apologies on behalf of the Danish nation for what we have foisted upon the world: Hejlberg's C#, Stroustrup's C++, Lerdorf's PHP, and Heinemeier Hansson's RoR. TP and Delphi, obviously, require no apologies.
  - int_19h 9y ago
    Nothing's wrong with C#. When it came, it was a "better Java" in many respects, and that was a niche that was desperately begging to be filled. Over the years, it became even better at it.
    - interfixus 9y ago
      I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it. It's just me being old school and curmudgeonly - not really hot on runtimes and complex dependencies. Although of course, if I really need it, Nim will compile my wonderfull code to js. Otherwise just singe, compact, standalone executables for any platform I care to imagine. And yes, the language itself is a joy to code in. Which is opinion, not fact, I realize that.
dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago
The UI construction on Delphi is a pleasure. Does something comparable exist for .NET?
- mb_72 9y ago
  Maybe I'm missing something here, but Visual Studio? https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/ https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/
- omgtehlion 9y ago
  WinForms, it is not 'cool' nowadays, but works exactly like VCL+delphi ui designer
  - mintplant 9y ago
    Eto.Forms if you're going cross-platform.
  - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
    WinForms is a bit of a mess when you want to support high-dpi.
    - throwaway7645 9y ago
      You can switch to WPF at that point I think.
      - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
        Which is like wading through treacle, I'm convinced we have taken as many steps backwards as forwards when it comes to desktop development.

klipt 9y ago

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

skrebbel 9y ago
Admittedly, I haven't. I've Read On The Internet(tm) that it isn't as good as plain Delphi, but in all honesty I really should give it a chance indeed. Thanks!
- nurettin 9y ago
  There is an online package manager and a docking IDE package (if you are into single window IDEs) in the latest Lazarus 1.8rc3, so they are slowly getting there.

SyneRyder 9y ago

There's Delphi Starter Edition, which is free for freeware / personal use projects, and 'free' for commercial apps until you've earned $1000 in total revenue. (At which point, they want you to buy a ~$2000 license. Hmm.) https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi/starter https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi/starter

nurettin 9y ago
When I tried it, it didn't allow me to use third party components in design time. And only 32bit demo compiler is distributed. (Can't be used from command line)
JohnStrange 9y ago
That's the annoying thing. Why don't these companies say you can use it for free or for cheap until you've earned 10000 in total, and then you have to buy a license that costs less. That way you could put the money aside in your calculations and it would be no problem. The DAW Reaper has this kind of licence, you only have to buy the commercial version if you make more than 20,000 USD gross revenue per year. It's the same with commercial CommonLisps, I'd love to use one, but the pricing is ridiculous for small companies / hobby programmers. That doesn't add up, you'd have to be 100% sure that you'll earn more than X dollars with your application and you can never be sure of that.
TMSZ 9y ago
I think Delphi Started has same limitation as C++ Builder Starter - removed most of debugging functionality (e.g. local variables window). It may be not critical with small applications, but I would rather have "no commercial", no 3rd party components or code size limitation than crippled IDE. I've tried to switch from Turbo C++ Explorer 2006 (this was also free version) to C++ Builder 10.1 Starter and I prefer old one.