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I still use Delphi (it is being actively developed) for my Windows Desktop products and Lazarus (Delphi's opensource clone) for Windows / Linux desktop clients.

by FpUser 5y ago

I still use Delphi (it is being actively developed) for my Windows Desktop products and Lazarus (Delphi's opensource clone) for Windows / Linux desktop clients. I do not think anything comes close to the practical feature set, ease of use, power and long term stability for GUI creation. Well QT does but at what expense. Meanwhile HTML/javascript based frontends is a pitiful clusterfuck comparatively. Modern computers have more than enough power to have the HTML/javascript front end with the power of Delphi. Why oh why web tool creators have to come up with abominations like React instead. The end result is that in case of Delphi the tool works for you. In case of popular web GUI frameworks it is the other way around.

chadcmulligan 5y ago
I'm starting a Delphi job in the new year, engineering software, its good to see it's still around, and I'm looking forward to no more HTML :-)
CRConrad 5y ago
Checked out Jon Lennart Aasenden's compile-to-JavaScript Object Pascal IDE/compiler? I don't know how far he's got with it, but might be worth looking it up.
- FpUser 5y ago
  It is not practical for me personally even if it is perfect for 2 reasons: 1) Unless it comes with completely ported VCL I do not see how it would be useful. 2) Doing it for the language's sake - I am not a language zealot and am fine to use whatever suits me better for particular situation. JS as front end for my servers works fine for me. For example even though Delphi / Lazarus is fine for developing servers I prefer doing it in C++. Backend libraries and performance are superior in my opinion.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    1) It pretty much does, AIUI. 2) "Doing it for the language's sake" -- Not necessarily the language itself, but he clarity it affords you. I could never quite get my head around the "half-typed, half-not; half-OO, half-not" nature of JavaScript; it just feels so... messy, to me. Any other language that avoids those as well as Pascal would do me equally well. (Hm, what does that leave? BASIC, C, COBOL, and FORTRAN...?) 2 B) "C++, superior backend libraries and performance" -- Maybe... but not by all that much, AIUI. Compensated for by clarity and simplicity (leading to better safety and productivity) on Pascal's side, IMO.
- Tozen 5y ago
  There are actually a few Pascal to JavaScript transpilers. Free Pascal/Lazarus has one, and then there is Smart Pascal that comes from DWScript. For that matter, there are a some other languages that have transpilers to JavaScript or WebAssembly. Aasenden's new transpiler and IDE is for the dollars. It's supposedly not just a transpiler for Object Pascal, but for a few other languages too. The problem that I see with that route is if you make an HTML5 app with it, you still going to need Cordova/PhoneGap for making it run on various OSes. If you are going to make people pay, rather see the finishing piece of the puzzle included too, because JavaScript and various dialects of Object Pascal are free.

by FpUser 5y ago

chadcmulligan 5y ago

I'm starting a Delphi job in the new year, engineering software, its good to see it's still around, and I'm looking forward to no more HTML :-)

CRConrad 5y ago

Checked out Jon Lennart Aasenden's compile-to-JavaScript Object Pascal IDE/compiler? I don't know how far he's got with it, but might be worth looking it up.

FpUser 5y ago
It is not practical for me personally even if it is perfect for 2 reasons: 1) Unless it comes with completely ported VCL I do not see how it would be useful. 2) Doing it for the language's sake - I am not a language zealot and am fine to use whatever suits me better for particular situation. JS as front end for my servers works fine for me. For example even though Delphi / Lazarus is fine for developing servers I prefer doing it in C++. Backend libraries and performance are superior in my opinion.
- CRConrad 5y ago
  1) It pretty much does, AIUI. 2) "Doing it for the language's sake" -- Not necessarily the language itself, but he clarity it affords you. I could never quite get my head around the "half-typed, half-not; half-OO, half-not" nature of JavaScript; it just feels so... messy, to me. Any other language that avoids those as well as Pascal would do me equally well. (Hm, what does that leave? BASIC, C, COBOL, and FORTRAN...?) 2 B) "C++, superior backend libraries and performance" -- Maybe... but not by all that much, AIUI. Compensated for by clarity and simplicity (leading to better safety and productivity) on Pascal's side, IMO.
Tozen 5y ago
There are actually a few Pascal to JavaScript transpilers. Free Pascal/Lazarus has one, and then there is Smart Pascal that comes from DWScript. For that matter, there are a some other languages that have transpilers to JavaScript or WebAssembly. Aasenden's new transpiler and IDE is for the dollars. It's supposedly not just a transpiler for Object Pascal, but for a few other languages too. The problem that I see with that route is if you make an HTML5 app with it, you still going to need Cordova/PhoneGap for making it run on various OSes. If you are going to make people pay, rather see the finishing piece of the puzzle included too, because JavaScript and various dialects of Object Pascal are free.