C++ or Delphi?
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O no!! not another silly programming languages discussion, I hear you say. But the truth is im a C++ programmer, and im working alone in my company and I sometimes wonder if im on the right track in using the Visual C++/MFC programming environment. Can anybody make any comments about the relative value of Borlands Delphi? Is it really much more productive than Visual C++/MFC? Is it more limited than C++? I know that this may seem a silly question with no really good answer but any points of view would be interesting to hear. Thanx Dave
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O no!! not another silly programming languages discussion, I hear you say. But the truth is im a C++ programmer, and im working alone in my company and I sometimes wonder if im on the right track in using the Visual C++/MFC programming environment. Can anybody make any comments about the relative value of Borlands Delphi? Is it really much more productive than Visual C++/MFC? Is it more limited than C++? I know that this may seem a silly question with no really good answer but any points of view would be interesting to hear. Thanx Dave
That really depends on what kind of work you are doing, and how much legacy code you have. If you need maximum flexibility C++/MFC is still the way to go, but I don't know how much fresh Internet stuff is being started in pure VC++. MFC is is dying, but it should take a good 5 years to finish it off. Lor
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O no!! not another silly programming languages discussion, I hear you say. But the truth is im a C++ programmer, and im working alone in my company and I sometimes wonder if im on the right track in using the Visual C++/MFC programming environment. Can anybody make any comments about the relative value of Borlands Delphi? Is it really much more productive than Visual C++/MFC? Is it more limited than C++? I know that this may seem a silly question with no really good answer but any points of view would be interesting to hear. Thanx Dave
I used Delphi in preference to MFC for a small internal project. It's superb when it comes to laying out your UI and connecting it all up. However there are a few key things missing from Pascal, ie multiple inheritance, some kind of STL equivalent. Also the code sharing culture seems to be different - there's a fair amount free components out there, but a lot come without the source. You might like to look at C++ Builder. It's essentially Delphi with a C++ compiler, it's downside is the code looks like a dogs dinner (full of #pragma and __declspec stuff) and it compiles much more slowly than Delphi. A slight asside - given the choice between VB and Delphi, I'd choose Delphi every time. Cheers Simo
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O no!! not another silly programming languages discussion, I hear you say. But the truth is im a C++ programmer, and im working alone in my company and I sometimes wonder if im on the right track in using the Visual C++/MFC programming environment. Can anybody make any comments about the relative value of Borlands Delphi? Is it really much more productive than Visual C++/MFC? Is it more limited than C++? I know that this may seem a silly question with no really good answer but any points of view would be interesting to hear. Thanx Dave
Hello I'm working at a company that's been using Delphi for about four years now. We started with Delphi 2, coming from Gupta's SQLWindows and Centura. We make client server apps that run against Oracle servers. Our core business is facility management; consultancy and software development. Our products are Cable Management, Helpdesk, Time Registration, Space Management,... Delphi covers 99% of our developments, Visual C++ about 1% (because we have a product that runs under AutoCAD® in which the main functionality is also written in Delphi, but the interface with AC is in C++). As for the language, I also miss some cool stuff that C++ offers like templates or generic types in general. On the other hand Object Pascal is much cleaner in it's syntax and more readable for new programmers and even non-programmers. Given the fact that we have some pretty tight codestyle rules, this comes in very handy. The power, you ask? Well, I don't think there is anything you can do with VC++ that is not possible in Delphi. Not even writing drivers. And the quality of the produced code seems very satisfactory. We must not forget that this compiler has an history which goes back to Turbo Pascal 1.0, back in '83. Do not get me wrong; I also love VC++, especially when you throw in some stuff like BCG (Stas Levin) and I often think: "Next project I do for myself, outside the company, will be in VC++". But every time I let myself seduce by the fast prototyping facilities of Delphi, a feature that does not come at the cost of power or performance. So; maybe I'll be coding in VC++ within some months, but I don't think I'll ever abandon Delphi. As for the free code: there are lots of excellent libraries available, with source code. Just take a look at Delphi Super page (http://delphi.icm.edu.pl/) or Torry's Delphi Pages (http://www.torry.ru) (just to name two of the zillions). Did this help you a bit
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O no!! not another silly programming languages discussion, I hear you say. But the truth is im a C++ programmer, and im working alone in my company and I sometimes wonder if im on the right track in using the Visual C++/MFC programming environment. Can anybody make any comments about the relative value of Borlands Delphi? Is it really much more productive than Visual C++/MFC? Is it more limited than C++? I know that this may seem a silly question with no really good answer but any points of view would be interesting to hear. Thanx Dave
Of the little I've worked with Delphi, I didn't see much of a difference. My bottom line: If you know pascal better that C++, choose Delphi; If you know C++ better than Pascal, choose VC++. If you don't know either, flip a coin
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O no!! not another silly programming languages discussion, I hear you say. But the truth is im a C++ programmer, and im working alone in my company and I sometimes wonder if im on the right track in using the Visual C++/MFC programming environment. Can anybody make any comments about the relative value of Borlands Delphi? Is it really much more productive than Visual C++/MFC? Is it more limited than C++? I know that this may seem a silly question with no really good answer but any points of view would be interesting to hear. Thanx Dave
I used Delphi for one major application and MFC for about 15. Also, I learned Delphi before MFC. Delphi is very easy to use for many applications. However, there are many things that are very difficult to do well in Delphi. For one thing, I think Delphi's GDI is poor. You get much better GDI response in MFC. Also, VC++ as the best debugging (at least compared to Delphi 3.0). Printing also is difficult. I also think you get a much better UI with MFC. Delphi apps look Delphi-ish. When I use MFC, I never feel restricted by the system. After 5 years experience, and making use of CodePoject and CodeGuru, MFC is as efficient for me as any Rapid Application Development environment. I was very happy to finally rewrite my one Delphi app in MFC and it was a hugely improved application. I really do think that Delphi is more limited that MFC, but I know that many Delphi die-hards disagree with me. I highly recommend MFC over Delphi, but the learning curve is steep indeed. Finally, Delphi blows VB out of the water, and I prefer Delphi over C++ Builder. I also much prefer Delphi over Java or C#. C++ just doesn't lend itself to the Delphi environment as well as Object Pascal. You will probably be successful if you choose Delphi, but I am very glad I switched to MFC. I also believe that the announced deaths of MFC are premature. MFC (and Delphi for that matter) will live as long as the concept of the desktop PC application. Regardless of the internet hype, a desktop application still has many valuable, and yet undiscovered, uses. The nice thing is that since it is considered dead (I consider it mature), MS doesn't keep making changes to it, like they do with all their internet/COM/DB standards. Note that we don't have to learn MFC+ as of yet. One final note... The VCL in Delphi is brilliant, but VCL components for Delphi 3.0, for example, don't work in later versions. Even the source may not upgrade without modification. This is a huge problem, especially if you paid for your components. You can't upgrade without upgrading every last component for every project. That is why I like the idea of shared source for MFC like provided on CodeProject. MFC is finally a RAD tool, a prototyping tool, and the final development environment
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O no!! not another silly programming languages discussion, I hear you say. But the truth is im a C++ programmer, and im working alone in my company and I sometimes wonder if im on the right track in using the Visual C++/MFC programming environment. Can anybody make any comments about the relative value of Borlands Delphi? Is it really much more productive than Visual C++/MFC? Is it more limited than C++? I know that this may seem a silly question with no really good answer but any points of view would be interesting to hear. Thanx Dave
I'm a developer who uses both VC++ and Delphi. I first learned Delphi, but have since come to prefer VC++. The only thing that I continue to use Delphi for it to quickly develop proof or concept type mock-ups. It seems to be much easier and quicker to throw together a sample in Delphi than in VC++ and you can't beat the compile time when you're just trying to tweak something minor. After learning VC++ (and more importantly, learning where to find help and components to download) - I really can't say that there are many differences in what you can do, just that it seems to take longer to get lower-level API stuff done in Delphi. Just my $.02 -r