OfficeCraft Ltd

Why do I use Delphi

by Dave Craggs 4th June 2019 OfficeCraft

I have been using Delphi since version 1. It’s always proven to be a powerful development tool, but it seems to be going out of favour. So why do I still use Delphi?

Delphi has been continuously developed and improved over the years. You can use Delphi to write web applications, multi-platform mobile apps as well as standard windows executables and more. But just because you can, doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

Would I use Delphi to write web applications? I have done in the past, but we have long since moved to using ASP.Net MVC using Microsoft Visual Studio for the majority of our web applications.

Similarly, I use Xamarin, again using Visual Studio for our mobile development rather than Delphi Firemonkey.

So what’s left?

The Visual Component Library (VCL)!

When it comes to writing extremely reliable windows executables that can run on any windows platform with no other dependencies, Delphi is very hard to beat. It is highly productive and excellent for windows desktop applications and utilities.

In particular I have written many engineering-based applications running on thin client technology using windows embedded OS that just run 24x7 for years. Highly reliable and safety critical applications, often using serial communications, or TN3270 for mainframe connectivity.

So, Delphi will remain in my arsenal of development tools for the foreseeable future.