Into the future

Tim Anderson talks to Embarcadero about Delphi and C++Builder 2010,
going cross platform, and what All-Access means for developers.

In May 2008, the database tools company Embarcadero acquired Borland’s CodeGear division whose products included Delphi, C++Builder and JBuilder. Just over a year later I caught up with Jason Vokes, Senior Director of Technologies and Marketing, International. I also spoke to the company’s CEO, Wayne Williams.
C++Builder 2010 class explorer

C++Builder 2010 has a new class explorer that includes a
visual model.
I started by asking what it has been like going from the CodeGear world to the Embarcadero world. “The community is a lot more buoyant, there’s a lot more that we’re able to do for people now we’ve got a tools company behind us,” says Vokes. “The trend is that the activities of database development and application development are coming together. The continued investment will be apparent with RAD Studio 2010.”

Embarcadero has been touring the UK talking to developers as well as demonstrating new products. This has meant dealing with past issues as well as looking forward. “I certainly don’t have a glass chin,” Vokes says. “Guys who have been alone with their frustrations come along and said, ‘I thought this was going to happen, and that was going to happen’. They didn’t realise what was going on.”

One of the issues with Delphi is that migration between versions can be a challenge, particularly if you have a customised installation including third-party components, and the introduction of full Unicode support in Delphi 2009, while greatly needed, has also made it harder to upgrade. “People might have tried [migration] once and then gone back to coding on their previous version because it seemed like a lot of work,” says Vokes. “We’ve been able to help them with third-party components, a strategy for ring-fencing pieces of code, utilities that will prepare them for the migration project, and things that people might need to look at for Unicode migration.”

Delphi 2010

So what are the highlights of Delphi 2010? “A lot of guys were really excited to see the Firebird support,” Vokes told me. “That’s real help for the Firebird community, which is second only to MySQL as an open source database. The Windows 7 support is something that we’re excited to be showing. So is the gesturing element: developers will have a gesturing component they can drop on a form to enable their existing applications. That gesturing engine is really significant, as we move on from touch on the Windows platform to a lot of the work we’ll be doing in Delphi ‘X’ [a future version with support for Mac OS and Linux].

“Then there is DataSnap and multi-tier support, with JSON [JavaScript Object Notation], REST [Representational State Transfer] and other technologies coming in that will help integration way beyond Windows as a platform. We’re starting to see more mash-ups, integrating with different platforms and Web-type feeds, surfacing existing code and enabling it in different ways.”
Delphi 2010's Custon Gesture Designer

The new Custom Gesture Designer in Delphi 2010, allowing
you to define gestures recognised by touch or stylus-based
systems.
Vokes is keen to tempt Delphi developers into trying Embarcadero’s database tools as well, or to buy into All-Access, a remarkable initiative that combines a subscription model similar to Microsoft’s MSDN with new technology called InstantOn, which lets you run tools without having to install them. “All-Access is such an interesting opportunity for our developer customers,” Vokes says. “People are seeing how Change Manager, OptimizeIt and ER Studio can help database-oriented Delphi developers.”

So how can these tools save time? Vokes gives an example of a developer walking into a new site. “They want to look at what entities are around that matter to that business. The full blown version of ER Studio can discover what an SQL Server or Oracle database has, reverse engineer it, look at it at a logical level, understand the entities and see if they can then be object-relational mapped and go on to be application entities. As a consultant they can start making a valuable contribution to scoping or project meetings very quickly.”

“Another tool is DB Optimizer. If your application is running really slowly, developers can work through the tiers, but as soon as they get to the database level it’s a black box. Tools like DB Optimizer enable them to isolate particular queries that might have performance challenges, and then make###

What’s new in Delphi and C++Builder 2010

Delphi and C++Builder 2010 (codenamed Weaver) are available now. New features include:
• Code formatter allows you to reformat code from a right-click menu option for greater clarity and conformance with project standards.
• IDE Insight is one of several search-based tools in the IDE. The idea is that you press F6 to open IDE Insight, search for the feature you want, and click to activate.
• Improved thread debugging, with the ability to freeze threads and see in which thread a breakpoint has been reached.
• Support for touch and multi-touch input. Select from standard gestures or design your own in the new gesture designer. Delphi 2010 uses the Windows 7 API when available, but also works on versions of Windows back to 2000.
• Support for other Windows 7 features including Direct2D, the new 2D drawing API in Windows 7.
• Updated DataSnap for multi-tier applications, with support for JSON and REST. l Full support for Firebird, the open source fork of InterBase.
• Support for InstantOn in All-Access. l New class explorer in C++Builder, including visualisation. ### specific recommendations to a DBA in terms they understand.

“As a developer I had SQL development books by my side. But if you look at Rapid SQL and the database development tools that can sit alongside your regular development environment, you can quickly get the right query at exactly the right time, and then decide where it lives - does it live in a stored procedure, does it get integrated in your application code, and so on. Those kinds of tools can make a huge difference to application developers.”

Choosing All-Access

I asked Vokes at what point All-Access makes sense, as opposed to buying individual tools. “As soon as you get to two to three products, then All-Access makes sense both from the technical value-add perspective, and also for provisioning, procurement, and all of those pieces.”

It turns out that there is a lot behind All-Access. InstantOn makes using multiple products more practical, so what is Instant On? “It’s just a single image that lets you run your IDE from wherever you want to run it. There’s no configuration, no installation, so you’re up and going in a second. You don’t have to think about, where you get the media from, how long will it take to install - all of those sorts of things.

“Initially we were demonstrating it using memory sticks. You can have a full-blown IDE on your memory stick. You go into a situation, plug your memory stick in, and run your stuff there, solve your customer’s problem, and off you go somewhere else.”

It turns out that All-Access is a great way to simplify deployment and licensing. “Using an All-Access server means that wherever you might be within an organisation, or outside an organisation using our All-Access servers, you can take a zero-deploy approach to using the tools and the licensing that you’ve got. It’s not so much about not having to install the IDE, it’s more about your licence options and having the right tool for the job, no matter where you might need to use it.

“Your licence goes with you. If people want to configure their installation on their desktop system in the office, they can still do that, but InstantOn provides them with an incredible amount of flexibility.”

The importance of All-Access was underlined by CEO Wayne Williams. “We would have failed miserably if not for All-Access. I remember the day that we finished the acquisition, and we got all the R&D guys together, and they started brainstorming: ‘we’re going to put Delphi in with this and that’, and ‘why don’t we pour that in there’.
Embarcadero's All-Access client

The All-Access client lets you click-and-run most Embarcadero tools. Others
can be fully installed from the same tool.
“I’ve seen how it works every time a software acquisition happens. You glue things together that don’t make any sense at all. There’s a reason that a hammer and a screwdriver don’t come welded together. Good tools are separate for a reason. All-Access freed us from having to do anything crazy - although where there’s integration that makes sense, we’ll do it, like making it easy for the other tools to consume an ER Studio model.”

That raises the question: is Embarcadero in danger of repeating Borland’s mistake by becoming an Application Lifecycle Management company instead of a developer-friendly tools company? Williams says it could not be more different. “ALM was about a deep integration between all the roles and tools, based on the idea that software development is a factory. You put something in, push a button, and the solution comes out the other end. I don’t believe that’s what software development is. We’re nowhere near that idea.

“Development is mostly an artistic endeavour, and it’s about having great tools. We integrate by putting the best tools together into a business model that makes sense. The technology to integrate them is about making them easily accessible. That’s integration that makes sense.”

TIM ANDERSON

Tim is a freelance journalist and software developer with a particular interest in Web development and object technology. He has been writing on development topics for over a decade in magazines varying from Personal Computer World to specialist titles such as Developer Network Journal (DNJ).

tima@hardcopymag.com www.itwriting.com

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