🚀 go-pugleaf

gnuist006@gmail.com schrieb:

> This was a nice reply where you tried to explain some special aspects
> of delphi
> based on the techniques of compiling and cross compiling them.
> Therefore I have
> confidence that this explanation can be expanded a little and made
> more lucid
> for a newbie like me by putting in more details into a single self-
> contained
> account.

So much more could be said, depending on what exactly you want to do.

>> Most GUI development environments are based on specific graphics
>> libraries. TheDelphiVCL (Visual Component Library) was developed for
>> Windows GDI, then converted into CLX (AFAIR based on Qt), and FreePascal
>> has implemented a true platform independent FCL (Free Component
>> Library), that is fully compatible with the VCL. The whole VCL/FCL is
>> written inDelphi(OPL), so that it can be used only with compilers that
>> can use theDelphiobject model. The RAD Studio, now sold by
>> Embarcadero, includes such compilers forDelphi,Delphi.NET, C++ and C#,
>> where for C# the VCL has been ported to .NET, so that it also can be
>> used with every .NET language.
> 
> I am surprised that C/C++/C# people and gnu people have not done this
> since even
> unix and X windows are written in these languages and also the
> microsoft
> windows.

Most companies and GNU groups concentrate on their own goals, and do not 
cooperate much with each other. The .NET approach lacks compatibility 
with existing code and languages, and the users have to follow every 
change in the proprietary Microsoft libraries. The GNU activities 
traditionally solve portability problems by adding tools, like automake, 
that introduce new problems, which have to be fixed by even more tools. 
When I asked them for cooperation in the design and implementation of a 
new model, for managing and building platform independent libraries and 
programs, the only answer was "make it work yourself, then we'll 
see...". The consequence is, that more and more people use interpreted 
languages in the POSIX world, where only the interpreter has to be 
ported once to every platform.


>> but since
>> I came acrossDelphi, now I write everything inDelphimyself, and only
>> "package" existing C code for use in myDelphicode.
> 
> How do you call or package C code inside delphi ?

Delphi has a package concept, similar to the .NET assemblies, that 
allows to make and use packages regardless of programming languages. 
Well, not really *all* languages, but all those that can use external 
binary libraries (*.DLL, *.so).

Thus making a package is not very different from making a DLL. And like 
in making an ActiveX DLL, you have to #include the according header 
files in your C code, to make sure that the package itself, and all 
users of that package, will use the very same type definitions and 
runtime library. Of course C and Delphi have different opinions, about 
how a "header" file should look like. Therefore tools exist to convert C 
header files from or into Delphi interface units, which may be invoked 
automatically in a newer IDE. Note that IDE stands for Integrated 
Development Environment, which integrates compilers for multiple 
languages, and knows how to make accessible modules of one language in 
the other languages :-)


> What is the best book to read for a newbie on delphi and what is the
> software needed to practice as you read ? This would help me a lot
> since
> i have to learn by myself.

I cannot suggest any current literature, because I had to buy my last 
book many years ago.

> I also dont know if any schools in the US
> teach programming via delphi. All I ever heard was scheme and python
> these days.

As mentioned above, only few languages are so platform independent that 
they can be used in teaching programming in general. As a Windows user, 
you may not have noticed that you'll have to tweak your C code for use 
on every other platform. Teaching C effectively means teaching "how to 
use C on platform XYZ", and that's why platform independent languages 
are preferred in education.

Even if Delphi currently is bound to Windows, I've emphasized the easy 
use of Delphi code on many other platforms, by simply using the 
FreePascal compiler. Did you know that FPC can cross-compile your 
Windows programs even for exotic machines, like ole Amiga or Atari?

DoDi