Marco Cantu: Over more than 25 years Delphi was and remains an excellent choice to learn programming, due to its easier syntax compared to curly brace languages and the fact it allows progressing from procedural programming to the world of object orientation, while other popular languages only offer an OOP paradigm. For learning, Python has grown a lot with great merit, but the ability to easily build a local Windows application with full fledged UI in Delphi remains unparalleled for a beginner. The landscape changed a lot and there are more nice programming languages to pick, but Delphi has also improved considerably with generic programming, dynamic constructs, anonymous methods and is continuously evolving over type, while retaining a high degree of compatibility with the billions of lines of existing code written with it.

Entwickler Konferenz: And of course are there any breaking changes or what are the most noticeable changes in Delphi 11?

Marco Cantu: The biggest changes in Delphi 11 relate with the development environment itself, given we made the move to using High DPI support in the IDE. This is not only a cosmetic type of chance offering crisp font text in the editor and high resolution icons, but also a big functional change because now you can design your VCL (and FireMonkey) applications directly at High DPI. This is a big change to the designer, along with the ability to preview VCL styles at design time, another big feature introduced in this release. Alongside, we updated the Welcome page getting rid of the HTML surface we used to display it. There is more in Delphi 111, from VCL extensions to a lot of quality improvements, but the IDE is cearly the focus of the new release.

Entwickler Konferenz: How can Project Reunion help to better interact Microsoft Tech with Delphi?

Marco Cantu: Delphi has been following the changes in the MIcrosoft development model for Windows for a long time. It has been the first third-party dev tool to offer full support for invoking WinRT APIs (at least the subset available to native applications) and the first IDE to integrate APPX support for Microsoft store deployment. We have continued along these lines offering MSIX packaging from the IDE and we already have a specific component wrapping the WebView 2 control (that is. the version of Edge based on Chromium). MSIX and WebView2 are two of the subsystems part of Project Reunion (now called Windows App SDK) we have been supporting since the last release. We are also expanding our WinRT API coverage and looking forward to being able to call all of the APIs (including WinUI 3 user interface controls) from within a native non-packaged application. As the Windows App SDK is still under development, we are closing monitoring and supporting its features as they become available.

The entire story around the Windows App SDK is very important for us. Microsoft long ago promoted the idea that the native Windows API was dead and moving to .NET was becoming a requirement, scaring some of our customers. Later they went on implying that the Unified Windows Platform (UWP) was the only viable futures, but then they started allowing integration with the so-called Desktop Bridge (originally intended as a migration path) and now they are saying native non-packages applications (the current name for native WinAPI apps) are first class citizen applications with access to the entire platform API. In other words, after saying for 15 years that the Delphi (and Visual C++ and other tools) underlying model and structure was old, they are now saying it is a great way to go for the future. This is great news for Delphi, given we have kept improving the tool and in particular the VCL library, which is by far the best Windows desktop UI library — we have kept focusing on it while Microsoft created and deprecated at least 5 other Windows UI libraries in the same time.

Entwickler Konferenz: Delphi adopted some features from Project Reunion, did it also adopt features from other platforms?

Marco Cantu: While Windows remains our primary target and working with the new APIs offered by the platforms is a top priority for us, we do the same across the spectrum of platforms we support. In this release of Delphi we offer macOS ARM-64 native support, targeting Apple M1 CPUs, alongside with Intel 64-bit targets and deployment of Universal platform binaries. We currently support the official platform application stores for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and each of them requires staying current with API usage, a reason we keep moving to newer libraries for mobile platforms. In terms of the Windows platform, along the classic VCL library we also offer our multi-device FireMonkey library which lets you target with the same exact source code Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and even native Linux UI, with the ability to customize the UI for each platform in the designer but reply on shared source code for all targets. Doing this without losing the native compilation and native platform integration is pretty unique these days.

Entwickler Konferenz: What advantages does Delphi have compared to Microsoft’s own compiler?

Marco Cantu: In terms of compilers we offer a different language than Microsoft, so it is hard to draw a direct comparison. While we also offer a C++ language solution companion to Delphi, C++Builder, the Delphi language offers advantages in terms of readability and simplicity, and is a much nicer language to start with. Compared to C#, one of the other main options from Microsoft, the advantage is having native code fast to execute and not requiring a runtime. With Delphi compiler code we have true xcopy deployment across most existing versions of Windows, with no runtime dependencies whatsoever. Also the code is fast and predictable in terms of response time, which is why Delphi is currently used a lot in industrial automation projects, where C# and java pose challenges in terms of predictability.

Entwickler Konferenz: In which direction do you think will Delphi develop in the future?

Marco Cantu: We are keen to keep Delphi a top tool for Windows client development, but also will keep offering multi-platform solutions and server side capabilities for Windows and Linux. Project Reunion offers us a unique opportunity to integrate all of the APIs and libraries Microsoft ships for the platform, unlike what happened over the last 15 or 20 years, and we are ready to support it in full. Desktop development tools have been challenged by JavaScript and HTML-based solutions, unifying web and client development, and we have seen huge small utilities consuming an insane amount of CPU and memory, not to mention hard disk space (and download bandwidth). When I see a chat client using asn many system resources as a development tool and compiler, as a user I’m unhappy. The technical advantage offered by a native solution (from us or Microsoft) is very significant, so I’m convinced that many will decide not to go that route or get back to native desktop solutions in the future.

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Christoph Schneider: Firestore ist eine moderne NoSQL Cloud-Datenbank, die als einen von mehreren Services unter dem Namen Firebase von Google betrieben wird. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Cloud-Datenbanken können die Services von Firebase nicht auf eigenen Servern betrieben werden, sondern man setzt auf die Dienste von Google. Ab ab einem Datenvolumen von mehr als 1 GB oder bei mehr als 20.000 Schreibzugriffen oder 50.000 Lesezugriffen pro Tag muss man für die Nutzung von Firestore zahlen. Bis zu dieser Begrenzung können Datenbank-Projekte nach heutigem Stand kostenlos betrieben werden.

Frage: Wo liegt die größte Hürde für Umsteiger, die bereits andere Arten von Datenbanken genutzt haben?

Schneider: Der Umstieg von einer SQL Client/Server-Datenbank auf eine NoSQL Cloud Datenbank ist für Entwickler ein großer Schritt, denn die Daten müssen nach anderen Kriterien strukturiert werden. Auch können in Firestore wichtige Konzepte der relationalen Datenbanken, zum Beispiel Abfragen über mehrere Tabellen oder auch Transaction, nur noch begrenzt verwendet werden.

Während bei relationale Datenbanken galt, Redundanzen in den gespeicherten Daten durch einen geschickten Tabellenentwurf möglichst zu vermeiden, gilt es beim Einsatz von Firestore die Anzahl der Abfragen von Dokumente und die Größe der Dokumente möglichst zu minimieren. Generell eignet sich dieser Datenbanktyp eher für Anwendungen, wo viele Anwender lesend und nur wenige schreibend zugreifen.

Der Umstieg von einer SQL Client/Server-Datenbank auf eine NoSQL Cloud Datenbank ist für Entwickler ein großer Schritt

Frage: Mit FB4D hast du ja eine eigene Library für den Einsatz von Firebase mit Delphi geschrieben. Welche Plattformen unterstützt du damit?

Schneider: Während Google für diese Datenbank Mobil- und Webanwendungen im Fokus hat und mit diversen Plattform-SDKs bestens unterstützt, ist es mit der von mir entwickelten OpenSource-Library FB4D für Delphi-Entwickler möglich, auch von Desktop oder Server-Anwendungen auf diese Cloud-Datenbank zuzugreifen. Dabei kann FB4D sowohl in FMX- als auch in VCL-Applikationen zum Einsatz kommen. FB4D ist bei Verwendung des Firemonkey-Frameworks für alle heute unterstützen Plattformen (OSX, iOS, Android, Linux und Windows) vorbereitet.

Frage: Wem würdest du empfehlen, einen Blick auf FB4D zu werfen; für welche Arten von Projekten ist die Library geeignet?

Schneider: Natürlich muss man sich bei jedem neuen Technologie-Einsatz über die damit verbunden Abhängigkeiten zu den involvierten Dienstleistern Gedanken machen. Bei aktuell weltweit über 1.5 Million Mobile-Applikationen, hergestellt von mehr als 36.000 Firmen, ist Firebase ein wichtiger und verlässlicher Player im Cloud-Plattform-Markt.

Für mich stellt Firestore/Firebase eine sehr gute Lösung dar, um schnell und einfach eine globale User-Authentifizierung aufzubauen und damit den autorisierten Zugriff auf strukturierte Daten via Cloud Firestore oder auch ganzer Dateien via Cloud-Storage zu transferieren oder zwischen Applikation zu synchronisieren. Durch die weitere Möglichkeit, serverseitige Firebase-Funktionen aus Applikationen zu starten, die auf alle Services zugreifen können, wie bspw. Machine Learning für die Bildbearbeitung/Bildinterpretation und Spracherkennung, sind sehr unterschiedliche Anwendungen entwickelbar.

Wenn ich zwischen Ausbau und Stabilisierung wählen müsste, hätte für mich letzteres klar Priorität.

Frage: Was würdest du dir für die Zukunft von Delphi wünschen?

Schneider: Ich wünsche mir für die Zukunft mehr Stabilität im Firemonkey-Framework. Es gibt auch für FB4D einige Einsatzorte, wie beispielsweise Linux-64, wo aktuell noch selbstgebaute Patches verwendet werden müssen, damit FB4D korrekt läuft. Andererseits freue ich mich natürlich auch über die Unterstützung von weiteren Plattformen (ARM-CPU OSX/Windows). Wenn ich aber zwischen Ausbau und Stabilisierung wählen müsste, hätte für mich letzteres klar Priorität.

Danke für das Gespräch!

Die Fragen stellte Ann-Cathrin Klose.

The post “Firestore/Firebase stellt eine sehr gute Lösung dar, um schnell und einfach eine globale User-Authentifizierung aufzubauen” appeared first on Entwickler Konferenz.

Beside Windows, Embarcadero keeps focusing on creating a great multi-device experience with FireMonkey. FireMonkey is the only native compiled framework with single source applications for desktop and mobile.

Finally, we have been pushing our more recent multi-tier REST-based architecture, RAD Server, which wants to bring easy and fast development for web services. All of these solutions let developers reuse a lot of existing code if they’ve used Delphi in the past.

JAXenter: At EKON 22, you will give a session entitled “The Delphi Language Evolution“. Indeed, the landscape is in motion with themes such as Cloud, Mobile, IoT, Container, Machine Learning, etc. Which topics are currently the focus of the Delphi community?

Marco Cantu: The focus of this session is on the core language and its modernization. We are very happy with the overall features and power of the language. However, there are many areas which can be improved and we want to focus on that. While these features are not strictly related with the industry trends, they help reinforce Delphi position as a compiled and efficient language suitable for all modern needs.

Deep platform integration helps with Mobile and IoT. For IoT, we have extensive support for core connectivity and even ready to use IoT components. Native mobile helps performance and battery usage. But energy saving (or CPU cycles saving) is also becoming important for cloud architectures, so again compiled code has advantages.

JAXenter: From your point of view, are there any topics that should be covered even more in the future?  Where is there still some catching up to do?

Marco Cantu: There are certainly many areas Delphi developers are just starting to tackle. Given many are focused on legacy existing large business apps (critical to keep many companies running) the adoption of new technologies like, say, blockchain or machine learning is a bit slower compared to other environments. But we are seeing many new libraries in these areas, and this is promising. We are very happy when we see our developers community help pushing the product in new directions.

JAXenter: In your keynote, you will present the development of REST and JSON web services with the RAD server. This also includes new web and JavaScript features. Can you give us an example?

Marco Cantu: How to best build a web application is a topic we could spend months debating. We could probably never reach consensus on what’s the best approach. Also, the JavaScript space is continually reinventing itself in terms of libraries.

Personally, I don’t believe Delphi should be used for building web UIs. There are many nice and clean technologies based on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript which get the job done nicely. I know some developers like using a single tool and not having to learn new ones, so I’m happy we have third party vendors offering integrated solutions.

For me, the best approach (for larger, public applications, at least) is to have a solid REST and JSON based backend, like RAD Server offers, and couple it with a JavaScript app. There are many alternatives there, from Angular to React to Vue. However, I’m likely going to demo the use of ExtJS, given our company owns this solid and stable JavaScript framework!

JAXenter: Another of your sessions is called “Building and Deploying Delphi Applications to Platform Stores”. What is your core message here?

Marco Cantu: The key concepts is App Stores have changed the way developers distribute and sell applications. They have also changed the way developers make money out of their work. This has been revolutionary for the mobile space. Microsoft is now trying to push and promote the same concept for Windows 10, something obvious if you consider the Windows 10 S release.

Delphi has integrated support in the IDE for building the artifacts and deployment files needed for iOS and Android mobile stores and for Windows Store, using the desktop bridge. I have personally deployed a few apps to these stores. This session would also focus on my personal experience and some gotchas with the process.

Thank you!

The post “Delphi development is still going strong” appeared first on Entwickler Konferenz.

Bernd Ua: Um einen belastbaren Vergleich hinzubekommen, müsste man den Terminus Cloud-Computing-Anwendung scharf definieren. Ist das nur eine in der Cloud laufende quasi beliebig skalierbare Microservice-Architektur mit Web-Frontend oder zählt dazu auch schon eine Mobile- oder Desktop-App die Cloud-Technologien primär für Storage oder Messaging verwendet oder einfach Machine Learning aus der Cloud einbindet?

Insofern macht es aus meiner Sicht Sinn, die Tauglichkeit an den jeweiligen Anforderungen zu messen. In einigen Szenarien ist Delphi C# und Java schon allein deswegen unterlegen, weil es eben klassischen Maschinencode für bestimmte Systeme und Prozessorarchitekturen erzeugt – da sind zwar alle wichtigen Systeme von Linux 64 Bit über Windows oder MacOS bis zu Android oder iOS dabei, nichtdestotrotz lege ich mich bei der Compilation in Delphi entsprechend fest. Bei Schnittstellen zu Cloud-Frameworks, Diensten oder Tools sind es häufig auch vor allem die Mainstream-Sprachen C#, Java oder auch Javascript für die sich Beispiele finden lassen oder es sogar fertig benutzbare Packages und Api-Wrapper der Hersteller gibt.

Die Azure- und Amazon-Komponenten in Delphi sind ein Beispiel dafür, wie Embarcadero versucht diesen Mangel durch mitgelieferte Komponenten auszugleichen. Im Verhältnis zu der Vielfalt und Vielzahl an vorhandenen APIs, sind es aber immer noch vergleichsweise wenige Komponenten. Spätestens, wenn ich in der Cloud „serverless“ arbeiten möchte, um bei Azure als Beispiel zu bleiben also Azure Functions implementieren möchte, komme ich mit Delphi nicht weiter. Die Sprache Delphi wird von Microsoft für Azure Functions einfach nicht unterstützt.

Das Schöne an Cloud-Architekturen ist aber ja auch, dass ich Systeme aus unterschiedlichen Sprachen miteinander kombinieren kann. Wenn die serverseitige Verarbeitung in einer Komponente zu prozessor-lastig ist, implementiere ich diese Komponente eben nicht mit Node.js sondern mit Delphi oder C# und nutze deren Multithreading-Frameworks. Wenn ich in einer Komponente den eleganten und effektiven Zugriff auf SQL-Datenbanken brauche, nehme ich dafür vielleicht auch explizit Delphi her. Es gibt also durchaus Gründe und Szenarien, sich gegen Delphi (oder andere „Nicht-Mainstream“-Sprachen) zu entscheiden, aber auch genug Gründe, nicht wegen einer anstehenden Cloud-Integration ein bestehendes Delphi-Ökosystem zu wechseln.

Entwickler: Gehen wir einmal ins technologische Detail: Delphi hat in den letzten Releases ja diverse Technologien und Komponenten erhalten, um mit der Cloud zu arbeiten. Was ist da aus deiner Sicht besonders hervorzuheben?

Ua: Die aktuellen Komponenten für den Zugriff auf Azure und Amazon-Services sind ja bereits eine Überarbeitung der ersten Versionen, die erste Kinderkrankheiten ausgemerzt haben. Aber diese neuen Versionen, so nützlich und gut sie auch sind, zählen für mich mehr eher als Pflicht denn als Kür.

Viel spannender finde ich eigentlich den wieder belebten Support für Linux als Zielplattform. Es gab ja mal bereits vor Jahrzehnten ein Delphi für Linux names Kylix, das dank Wine und Qt nicht wirklich angenommen wurde. Insofern hat mein Feature-Favorit, die Linux-Zielplattform, im Namen erst mal nichts mit Cloud zu tun. Die aktuelle Unterstützung für server-seitige Linux-Entwicklung öffnet aber den spannenden Bereich der Containertechnologien in der Cloud für Delphi-Entwickler.

Entwickler: Was fehlt dir persönlich in Delphi noch, gerade wenn es um Cloud Computing geht?

Ua: Wo soll ich da anfangen und wo aufhören, ich würde mir noch tausend Features wünschen. … natürlich bin ich da ein Nimmer-Satt. Weil ich eben Linux erwähnt habe, fangen wir damit an. Ich würde mir eine direkte Integration von Containertechnologien in die Delphi-IDE wünschen, so dass ich nicht nur ein wo auch immer laufendes Linux als Deploy- und Debug-Ziel einbinden kann sondern auch direkt einen Docker-Container angeben und dort debuggen kann. Dann kann der RAD-Server von Embarcadero ja bereits automatisch eine API-Dokumentation für Swagger erzeugen – da liegt es nahe sich zu wünschen, dass Embarcadero einen Swagger-Codegenerator bereitstellt, der Server-Stubs und Client-SDKs für Delphi zu Swagger-dokumentierten REST-APIs erzeugt. Und wenn ich weiter wünschen dürfte, könnten es noch ein paar mehr Azure- oder Amazon APIs sein, für die es fertige Komponenten gibt.

Entwickler: Die Cloud ist sicherlich eines der aktuellen Themen, mit der sich jede Sprachen-Community beschäftigen muss. Mobile, Big Data, Machine Learning, Container-Technologien sind einige andere. Wenn man sich die Delphi Community im Ganzen anschaut – wohin geht hier der Trend? Was sind die derzeit diskutierten und bearbeiteten Themen?

Ua: Die Delphi Community scheint da eher konservativ unterwegs zu sein. Den Mobile-Support für Android und iOS gibt es ja nun schon seit Jahren und es hat einige Zeit gedauert, bis das wirklich angenommen und in größerem Umfang genutzt wurde. Inzwischen werden diese mobilen Technologien in Delphi angenommen und in größerem Umfang genutzt und eingesetzt als noch vor wenigen Jahren. Dazu gibt es einiges an Open-Source-Support und kommerziellen Komponenten für diesen Bereich. Ebenso finden sich verschiedene Open-Source-Frameworks und einige wirklich gute kommerzielle Komponenten für REST-Server und Clients. Im Bereich Machine Learning oder Big Data tut sich in der Community noch nicht so viel. Wir werden aber zumindest zu Machine Learning etwas auf der EKON hören.

Was die mobile Entwicklung angeht, ist auch durch die neue Community-Edition ein neuer Schub zu erwarten. Es gab ja bereits seit längerem eine kostenfreie Starter-Edition von Delphi, die allerdings in ihrem Umfang stark eingeschränkt war und nur Win32 unterstützt hat. Diesen Sommer hat Embarcadero die alte Starter-Edition durch eine neue Community-Edition ersetzt, die im Endeffekt den kompletten Umfang der kommerziellen Professional Edition hat und mobile Entwicklung ebenso unterstützt wie Datenbankentwicklung. Die Version ist lediglich von den Lizenzbedingungen auf Non-Commercial-Use beziehungsweise bestimmte Umsatzgrenzen eingeschränkt und zielt auf den Nachwuchsbereich ebenso wie auf Startups.

Entwickler: Was ist die Kernbotschaft deiner Session, die jeder Besucher mit nach Hause nehmen sollte?

Ua: Die Session zu Azure mit Delphi ist ja eher technisch und soll Delphi-Entwicklern einen Eindruck davon geben, wie sie die Azure Cloud benutzen können, wie schwer oder wie einfach das ist und wo die Grenzen sind. Welche Message die Teilnehmer dann für sich mitnehmen, wird davon abhängen, welche Anforderungen sie konkret haben und wie diese zu den Möglichkeiten von Delphi passen oder eben nicht. Aber unabhängig davon, sollte jeder für sich zumindest mitnehmen können, dass Cloud Computing oder Cloud Integration auch nur Software-Anforderungen sind wie andere auch.

Vielen Dank für das Interview!

Im Interview: Bernd Ua
Bernd Ua ist Gründer und Geschäftsführer von probucon Business Consulting einem Beratungs- und Trainingshaus, das eine breite Platte von unterstützenden Dienstleistungen bei der Softwareentwicklung anbietet, angefangen von Trainings bis zu Architektur, Projektleitung, Codereviews und Umsetzung. Bernd Ua arbeitet seit mehreren Jahren als Softwarearchitekt und Entwickler sowie als Trainer im Bereich nativer Anwendungen mit Embarcadero Delphi und im .net Umfeld mit C#. Daneben ist er als Autor unter anderem für das Entwickler Magazin tätig und regelmäßig als Speaker auf nationalen und internationalen Veranstaltungen anzutreffen. 

 

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That Delphi is fairly popular in Europe is not just an impression, but it is actually a fact. Even in the past, US sales were surpassed by European ones, but today the difference is very significant. There are many reasons for this difference, from the fact US developers tend to prefer languages invented there (hard to believe, I know), to the different type of applications being built (less Windows and more Web), to a different relationship of the developers with Microsoft, and also the fact Delphi communities in most European countries have remained active and have kept being attractive for other developers. Most of the Delphi conferences happen in Europe, and the exceptions are in the Asia Pacific region, not in the US.

If the popularity of Delphi in Europe is high, Germany leads the group being likely the country in the world with the largest number of active Delphi developers. Last year, we decided to name the new release of Delphi after Berlin to underline the fact we have a large community there.
Other European countries like the Netherlands and Nordic countries have also many Delphi developers in percentage, not as many as Germany in absolute terms. Russia in another country with many developers.

Outside of Europe and the US, Japan has been historically a good country for Delphi developers, with several large companies that invested on it. There is a huge and growing number of Delphi developers in Brazil and China, although the business in both countries is not as big.

The Windows-centric world Delphi was originally focused on doesn’t‘ exist any more. How has Delphi been keeping up and what’s in the pipeline to help developers address today’s and tomorrow needs?

It is true that the original Windows-centric world is long gone, with Windows at the second or third place in terms of most popular OS. However, we see that small and large business still rely heavily on Windows clients, and a lot of Windows applications are being maintained (and also many are being built). There is still a significant role for desktop client applications in the business space, when data entry is critical and the flow of information is large, web apps have a hard time keeping up.

Having said this, Delphi has been moving towards the new multi-device world for quite some time. Today you can stick on the good old VCL for Windows, if that’s your exclusive focus, or use Delphi to target Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows on the client side, alongside with Windows or Linux on the server side. For each of these platforms we have build native compilers, producing the proper ARM or Intel assembly code, and an entire tool chain (linker, local and remote debuggers, remote platform deployment and code signing and support for deployment on devices, simulators and app stores.

In terms of development model, we have kept our key focus on the RAD model with a rich palette of UI controls, part of the FireMonkey library. We have a pretty unique multi-device designer, allowing you to customize a single form for different devices and preview it in the designer and on the device in real time. Beside the UI, the set of FireMonkey components include support for device features and sensors.

In a different direction, we have pushed Delphi towards the Internet of Things world, by building a technology for rapidly generating components for commonly used IoT devices using different protocols, by supporting Beacons and Beacon Fencing, and integrating IoT support with server side technologies.

The Windows 10 platform is evolving rapidly. In what ways can Delphi and especially Visual Component Library (VCL) be of use when building Windows 10 applications?

What we have tried to achieve with the VCL is allow developers to fully embrace Windows 10 without having to rewrite existing applications from scratch. We improved our support for styling, to have VCL UIs look more modern. We added several new VCL controls specifically designed for Windows 10 UI (and mimicking some of the native WinRT controls). We also introduced a lot of interoperability with the WinRT subsystem, so that VCL applications can call traditional Win32/Win64 APIs, interact with the Windows Shell via COM, and now also invoke WinRT APIs directly. This last is very simple to do, much more than using Microsoft tooling.

Once Microsoft made the Windows Desktop Bridge public, we started supporting it right away in the Delphi IDE, so that building a Windows Store VCL application is really simple.

Let’s turn to the cloud: how can you leverage the power of cloud hosted data and applications from the Delphi perspective?

Delphi has started supporting Cloud data storage by providing ready-to-use components for Azure and AWS many years ago. Later we have pushed to a slightly different direction, which is making sure we have general purpose components for REST APIs. We created a REST Client library, including support for different authentication modes, and an HTTP client library underneath. The idea is with cloud and REST platforms evolving fast, we should focus on the building blocks to enable our customers targeting any service they need.

In terms of hosting your applications on Cloud services, there is nothing special in terms of Delphi compiled applications, but this was a driving factor in building a Linux compiler, given hosted Linux systems are getting more and more popular compared to their Windows counterpart. This is being fostered by Docker and similar technologies, but also by the price difference in hosted VMs.

Last year, Embarcadero went back from a six month update cycle to more regular updates, the first one being Delphi X 10.1 Berlin. What was the motivation behind this decision?

There were two driving factors behind this change. On one side, most of our customers are still largely focused on VCL and on that platform updating your projects and third party components twice a year was received negatively from developers. We had many (justified) complaints for this, and looked for ways to get back to a slower cycle — with more intermediate binary compatible updates in between.

The second driving factor was the switch to mandatory Update Subscription (which is what most other development tools require, even if they might words as as “first year license” and “additional year license extension”). Delivering additional features and support for new operating system in a free update to all customers incurs in revenue recognition issues (a fairly complex US accounting regulation) and delivering those fixes only to the customer on an optional subscription outrages the other developers (yes, we tried it). Now that everyone is entitled to updates and new releases for the first year and as long as they keep renewing, we are free to provide features in updates as much as we like — only issue being the extra effort in maintaining compatibility.

Delphi 10.2 Tokyo was released in March 2017. What are the most important new features and updates from your point of view?

The new Delphi Linux 64-bit compiler was clearly the main feature of the Tokyo release. There was a Delphi compiler in the distant past of Delphi, but a new one was long awaited and it has been very well received by our customers. This is a modern, LLVM-based, optimized compiler producing 64-bit Linux executables and including specific support for building server apps, with Apache HTTP server integration.

There were other changes in the VCL and RTL libraries, some minor but nice IDE improvements, and many fixes alongside. For VCL, with Tokyo we delivered a cleaner version of the Windows 10 and Windows Store support already in Berlin Update 2.

RAD Studio has opened up to the Internet of Things. How does it support developers in connecting smart devices?

As mentioned above, we are addressing the new world of Internet of Things in different ways. The first thing we did was creating libraries (and ready to use components) to interact with Bluetooth LE devices and Beacons. On top of that library, we defined an architecture for building components for specific IoT devices, all directly available for free in the IDE on our GetIt package download manager. The other specific feature we build was BeaconFencing, with components to define beacon maps with zone to track users entering and existing specific area of a mall, airport, stadium, or other indoor location equipped with Beacons. There is nothing comparable out there, and we have been very proud of this architecture.

We have also partnered with Boian Mitov of MitovSoftware to improve the way Delphi applications can work among side Arduino boards and Mitov’s Visuino software (which is written in Delphi, by the way). Boian has done several webinars demonstrating how Delphi applications can interact with Arduino boards. On the Raspberry PI platform, instead, if you install the Android OS you can run your Delphi applications directly on the board.

Finally, we have been pushing for a model of local processing “near the device”, using mobile or desktop apps connected to devices and even local databases like IBLite (the free embedded version of InterBase), rather than the fairly popular idea of mobile devices sending all of the data they collect to cloud system blindly. If you have a thermometer, do you want to store the temperature to a cloud database every minute, when it hardly changes? If makes more sense to have some intelligence (that is, an app) local to the device that can send average data every hour, send instant data when it changes (even more often as needed), and even trigger alerts and alarms in case of unexpected variations. We are calling this model “edge” processing, and have fully enabled our RAD Server architecture to make it easy to support it, but you can easily implement the same logic with any custom architecture.

Needless to say the entire Internet of Things phenomenon is still very much in evolution, and we are ready to add support for its key tenets are they become popular.

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