3 ms·

Delphi (and Borland C++ Builder) was a lot of fun back in the day. Linux ecosystem wasn't as mature, and people who insisted on on using the Microsoft toolchain

by m0zg 8y ago

Delphi (and Borland C++ Builder) was a lot of fun back in the day. Linux ecosystem wasn't as mature, and people who insisted on on using the Microsoft toolchain had to deal with some insane bullshit like MFC, ATL/WTL, or bare Win32 API. In the meanwhile, people using Borland stuff were cranking out superior (and faster) apps out of components downloaded online, and using drag&drop. What would take weeks and a lot of head scratching in MFC was like 10 minutes in Delphi, and you _knew_ you got it right. It was RAD if you pardon my pun.

pjmlp 8y ago
And then Borland decided to change business forcing us to deal with MFC. That whole Inprise adventure was pretty bad.
- m0zg 8y ago
  And then Hejlsberg left for MS and took his toys with him. WinForms bore more than a passing resemblance to VCL, and C# more than a passing resemblance to Delphi/C++ Builder. Good for MS to recognize true talent when they see it. Though their current API situation is still a mess: they can't stop screwing with it. But their .NET situation is as good as it's ever been.
  - pjmlp 8y ago
    Actually the way he went took a bit of talking with former work colleges then working at Microsoft. "Anders Hejlsberg: A craftsman of computer language" - interview https://behindthetech.libsynpro.com/001-anders-hejlsberg-a-craftsman-of-computer-language https://behindthetech.libsynpro.com/001-anders-hejlsberg-a-c... WinForms was based on J++'s Windows Foundation Classes (WFC), Hejlsberg's first project at Microsoft. Which of course, was based on VCL. That mess is the usual DevDiv vs WinDev, for example I read somewhere that WinRT was pushed by WinDev, so naturally it is basically COM Runtime reborn. My major complain was that we only got NGEN for AOT compilation and not something C++ Builder/Delphi like, Now there are a few ways of doing AOT in .NET, but it is still not like Delphi.
    - m0zg 8y ago
      I do miss near-instantaneous builds on late 90's hardware (!). Much of that was Pascal with its single pass compiler. Productivity-wise that was indispensable.
      - pjmlp 8y ago
        I have found home on .NET/Java as the best approximation of it, but do agree it could be better.

by m0zg 8y ago

pjmlp 8y ago

And then Borland decided to change business forcing us to deal with MFC. That whole Inprise adventure was pretty bad.

m0zg 8y ago
And then Hejlsberg left for MS and took his toys with him. WinForms bore more than a passing resemblance to VCL, and C# more than a passing resemblance to Delphi/C++ Builder. Good for MS to recognize true talent when they see it. Though their current API situation is still a mess: they can't stop screwing with it. But their .NET situation is as good as it's ever been.
- pjmlp 8y ago
  Actually the way he went took a bit of talking with former work colleges then working at Microsoft. "Anders Hejlsberg: A craftsman of computer language" - interview https://behindthetech.libsynpro.com/001-anders-hejlsberg-a-craftsman-of-computer-language https://behindthetech.libsynpro.com/001-anders-hejlsberg-a-c... WinForms was based on J++'s Windows Foundation Classes (WFC), Hejlsberg's first project at Microsoft. Which of course, was based on VCL. That mess is the usual DevDiv vs WinDev, for example I read somewhere that WinRT was pushed by WinDev, so naturally it is basically COM Runtime reborn. My major complain was that we only got NGEN for AOT compilation and not something C++ Builder/Delphi like, Now there are a few ways of doing AOT in .NET, but it is still not like Delphi.
  - m0zg 8y ago
    I do miss near-instantaneous builds on late 90's hardware (!). Much of that was Pascal with its single pass compiler. Productivity-wise that was indispensable.
    - pjmlp 8y ago
      I have found home on .NET/Java as the best approximation of it, but do agree it could be better.