Why I am using Delphi for all my development

Every now and then, people keep asking me why I use Delphi to develop my software.

Here are a few reasons:

1.       Speed. Delphi is not only a language, but also an integrated development environment (IDE). Both parts are blazing fast at their respective tasks.

Language: Being a native language compiler, the generated code, Intel machine code, is really fast at doing his job.

IDE: I can do everything within the IDE, from editing, to debugging. I have tools to quickly build applications. There is a two way form designer and object inspector. As soon as you change a property value in the object inspector or move/add something visually on a form, your code reflects it immediately. Developer productivity is excellent.

2.       Universality: Delphi can do almost everything. There is no need to use anything external. Your program is standalone and do not depends on anything. If you need it, it is easy to call external software or be called by external software. Delphi supports almost everything, from low level API to high level database. You can write business application as well as process control, communication or multimedia applications. You can build full blown GUI application 2D or 3D, or build web applications using soap, rest and more.

3.       Modern language: although originally based on Pascal, the Delphi language is now a full blown object oriented language supporting everything from simple object polymorphism and inheritance to generic code and run time type information.

4.       Rich library: Delphi includes two broad component frameworks: VCL and FireMonkey. VCL is Windows only while FireMonkey is cross-platform.

5.       Familiar: C/C++/Java/C# and Delphi are quite similar. They all have the same kind of syntax. Of course some details vary, but all in all they support the same construct. Among all, I find I’m the most productive with Delphi.

6.       Cross-platform: You can build applications for Windows, MAC OSx, iOS, 32 and 64 bits. And soon Androïd and Linux.

7.       Active community: Delphi developer forms a very active community. There is a lot of website devoted to Delphi. All social networks have each several communities (LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, Tweeter to point a few) where ideas and code are exchanged.