4 ms·
The article mentions that the binary size of the listbox example is significantly different. Well, we used to say that Delphi 1 is totally wasteful as the defau
by dfox 8y ago
The article mentions that the binary size of the listbox example is significantly different. Well, we used to say that Delphi 1 is totally wasteful as the default empty project compiled into 39kB .exe, obviously full of bloat ;)
Edit: 39kB was nothing even in the 1995. But there was other more significant issue: if you went for all the database and line of bussines suport libraries you ended up with application that used more 3.5" floppy disks than contemporary Windows 3.1, one for your application and 7 additional for the redistribuable frameworks ;)
- userbinator 8y ago140KB+ for that simple app even in 1995 would've been an insane level of bloat, considering that the Windows 3.1 Program Manager (PROGMAN.EXE) also shown in the screenshots is only 112KB, and it certainly has much more functionality. The File Manager, WINFILE.EXE, is 167KB. As an experienced native Win32 programmer, the same thing in pure Win32 would be <2KB. (Edit: I mean the app with 3 controls on a dialog, not the File Manager...) What's even more disturbing is the fact that an app which does the same thing in 2019, using a newer version of the programming environment, now takes nearly 6MB or 30MB, depending on which field of the newer versions' dialog you're looking at ("code size" or "file size"). My first experience with a Delphi application was similarly disappointing: I distinctly remember a 300KB binary whose only function was drawing a few lines on the screen (to act as a ruler), and disassembling it in an attempt to figure out why.
- nolok 8y agoYou don't need to disassemble it, just check the box so that the VCL libraries are loaded dynamically rather than statically linked in the binaries and you get your answer. There is a reason your app starts at 30 MB and then after you add dozens of forms, database calls, ..., it's still at pretty much the same size, it's the VCL (Delphi's library).
- int_19h 8y ago300 Kb was basically the fixed-size overhead for any VCL app. But by late 90s, it was "good enough", and that's when Delphi was at peak popularity.
- ido 8y agoI may be misremembering but the early visual basics exported even heavier results.
- berkut 8y agoI think you were - I remember the .exes were much smaller, but they weren't self-contained/stand-alone, so you needed to make sure msvb*4.dll (can't remember what it was exactly) was on the system you wanted to run it on, and it was > 1.4 MB, so you couldn't fit both the small .exe and the runtime .dll on a floppy disk...
- pjmlp 8y agoNow compare Delphi in 1995 with Electron in 2019....
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- marcocantu 8y agoWell notice that info is for application with DEBUG information, not release...