Hello FireDAC

Yes, I’m sure you saw everyone else’s posts on the matter, but just to be sure, I thought I’d draw your attention to the newly launched FireDAC data access layer (just announced), the result of Embarcadero’s recent acquisition of DASoft’s AnyDAC.

It’s a free download if you have the Enterprise (or higher) version of Delphi, C++Builder or RAD Studio or can be purchased as an add-on (the FireDAC Client/Server Pack) if you have the Professional version (and yes, there’s an offer for current owners of AnyDAC or the XE2 Client/Server Pack.

Click here for the FireDAC FAQ and click here for the FireDAC documentation.

Delphi comes of age

18 years ago today Delphi 1 was launched as a revolutionary way of building native compiled, unmanaged, non-interpreted 16-bit Windows 3 applications using UI-driven RAD principles.

Today Delphi targets Win32, Win64, OS X and at some point soon will also target iOS and Android.

Happy birthday Delphi!

Delphi has come a long way in 18 years, but the basic principles of building Windows applications are just the same today as they were then. The VCL library has expanded and grown considerably, and the IDE has had countless useful features and options added to it over the years.

It’s easy to miss some of the IDE features or forget a useful keystroke. To help you remember some of the more useful ones, please refer to any of these resources:

• My blog post Delphi IDE productivity keystrokes from July 2012 where I run through some of my favourite IDE keystrokes, mainly in the code editor.
• My CodeRage 7 session IDE Productivity Tips & Techniques from November 2012 where I demonstrate some of my favourite IDE keystrokes, mainly in the code editor.
• Cary Jensen’s Delphi Editor (Updated) Key Combination Table. I spent quite some time working with Cary on this (hopefully) comprehensive “cheat sheet” of keystrokes available from the Delphi editor’s default keymapping. It’s a big list and many of the supported functions are accessible through more than one keystroke combination, which makes the list even longer. If you want to find how to do something in the editor with a keystroke shortcut, this is the resource to refer to.
  Note that the online Delphi keystroke documentation is unfortunately deficient and errant in various regards. I made a concerted effort to correct those oversights in this updated shortcut collection.

Keep using Delphi for your native Windows applications and we’ll still be celebrating Delphi’s birthday for many years to come!

Resources/Links

We’ve just come to the end of the latest run of Developer Direct webinars on Delphi and C++Builder that I posted about when they started. The closing slide had a bundle of collated links on, so I thought I would copy (and, where necessary, correct) them into a post and make them searchable/locatable just in case that ever happened to be vaguely helpful for anyone.

• Email: developerdirect.online@embarcadero.com
• Twitter: @embtddirect and #embtdd
• Delphi community: http://edn.embarcadero.com/delphi
• CodeRage 7 replays: http://www.embarcadero.com/coderage/coderage-7-delphi-sessions
• CodeRage 6 replays: http://www.embarcadero.com/coderage/coderage-6-sessions-a-replays
• CodeRage 5 replays: http://www.embarcadero.com/coderage/coderage-5-sessions-a-replays
• 24 Hours of Delphi replays: use this EDN search link
• Embarcadero on YouTube: http://youtube.com/user/EmbarcaderoTechNet
• Embarcadero on Facebook: http://facebook.com/embarcaderotech
• Embarcadero on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmbarcaderoTech
• Blogs:
• Allen Bauer: http://blogs.embarcadero.com/abauer/
• Anders Ohlsson: http://blogs.embarcadero.com/ao/
• David I: http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/
• Paweł Głowacki: http://blogs.embarcadero.com/pawelglowacki
• Stephen Ball: http://blogs.embarcadero.com/stephenball/
• Vsevolod Leonov: http://blogs.embarcadero.com/vsevolodleonov/

Conference season has (for me) departed

It’s been a busy 6 weeks for me in terms of conferences. I used to be a regular speaker on Delphi and C++Builder topics at international conferences in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s, but haven’t really been doing much in that area in the last semi-decade for various reasons that have no mileage in verbalising. However this autumn/fall I’ve thrown myself back into it as much as was feasible.

Embarcadero’s C++ stories

There’s been some chatter over recent months (and maybe even years) over the pending 64-bit C++ compiler for Windows from Borl^H^H^H^H Embarcadero. And now it’s here – the press release can be found at this link! Released days ago it’s a free update for users of C++Builder XE3 or RAD Studio XE3 and is now included in the install for new customers and in the trial version.

So C++Builder can now generates 32-bit Windows and OS X applications and 64-bit Windows applications. The beta program for the mobile support (for iOS and Android) is under way and expected to be done by the end of the first half of 2013. XE3 customers have priority access to the beta program.

David I posted up a great a potted history of Borland/CodeGear/Embarcadero’s C and C++ technology in this post, which charts the course from Turbo C on DOS through Turbo C++ on DOS and protected mode DOS, Borland C++ on DOS, Windows 3 and 3.1, then OS/2, Turbo C++ for Windows 3.1, then C++Builder for Win32 and (briefly) C++Builder X for enterprise and mobile platforms. Interestingly the post skips over the C++ compilers present in Kylix 2 and 3 (November 2001 and July 2002 respectively), which targeted ELF executables that run on Linux.

The new 64-bit release is based on the CLANG compiler front end and the LLVM optimising compiler back end, with Borland/Embarcadero extensions added in to work on VCL/FMX applications. It’s the first commercial CLANG implementation that targets Windows, so a lot of work was required to get this project to this point of being released.

The focus of this release is language conformance and support for C++11, which comes from the work already done by the CLANG project and now available to C++Builder customers. There are some blog posts on the new C++11 features in the list below. You can see what’s new in this release in the online docwiki.

I write this post not long after the C++ version of the free online CodeRage 7 conference has finished. The Win64 C++ compiler was announced at the start of the conference, and the conference sessions should become available online real soon, as the sessions from the Delphi CodeRage 7 have done. One of the first sessions on the first day of the C++ conference was a chat between David I and Bjarne Stroustrup (work page and home page), the designer and original implementer of C++. It was great to hear his views and opinions on all things C++. There’s a write-up of that session in this blog post.

To celebrate C++Builder’s move into the 64-bit world David I is spending much of December blogging about C++ in what he calls The 25 Days of C++mas. Current posts are as follows. I’ll try and add to this list a the days go by.

1. C++Builder XE3 64-bit compiler
2. Some of my favorite C++11 links
3. Survey of favorite C+11 features
4. The path to C++11 and the future
5. Stricter C++Builder Win64 compiler
6. Get a C++Builder 64-bit Boost!
7. Pre-compiled Header Files
8. A/V Capture Devices and Sensors
9. C++Builder 64-bit Debugging
10. C++Builder XE3 64-bit compiler is released
11. A recap of my conversation with Bjarne Stroustrup
12. Checking 12/12/12 12:12:12.12 with C++Builder
13. Migrating C++ Code to 64-bit

RAD Studio XE3 new features

Delphi XE3, C++Builder XE3 and RAD Studio XE3 have been out a few months now. Back in October, David I released a video per day of the month to highlight new features in some of the various products that make up RAD Studio XE3: Delphi XE3, C++Builder XE3 and HTML5 Builder (I didn’t immediately notice anything relating to Embarcadero Prism XE3).

These 31 videos have been grouped together in an October calendar page entitled the Oct 2012 International RAD Studio Film Festival. If you have XE3 or are looking at upgrading to it you should take a look through some of these videos to see some of the newer features.

New Delphi Product Manager announced

Congratulations to Marco Cantù who has just been announced as the new Delphi Product Manager.

Let’s hope his years of Delphi experience and expertise are a great positive input into the team and that the general outlook for Delphi continues to bounce back.

Good luck Marco in your new rôle!