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CodeGear 2008 |
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Simon Bisson catches up with Jason Vokes to find out what's happening at CodeGear following the merger with Embarcadero, and discoversa new release of Delphi. |
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It’s been a busy year for the folks at CodeGear. Not only have they been working hard on the next version of Delphi, but they’ve also been acquired by Embarcadero. We caught up with CodeGear’s Jason Vokes, now Embarcadero’s Senior Director of Technologies EMEA, to find out more about what’s been happening, and where the next year would take its developer tools.
The last year for CodeGear was one where the company could concentrate on getting back to its roots, focusing on its tools and improving its relationships with developers. During this time it launched a new version of RAD Studio and a new Eclipse-based version of its JBuilder developer platform. An important part of this was a series of webinars that concentrated on using CodeGear tools to build real world solutions. These proved very popular, growing from a small number of attendees to over a hundred for each live session. CodeGear staff also became more involved, working directly with developers.
Jason Vokes is excited by the future as
CodeGear products begin to benefit
from their new relationship with
Embarcadero.First and foremost, Jason made it clear that the CodeGear name will carry on, so “keeping up the momentum of the last year.” Embarcadero is happy with the brand and is in the process of rebranding its own database tools as DatabaseGear in a deliberate echoing of the CodeGear name. The intention is to maintain continuity and to build on the two companies’ tools and technologies. Wayne Williams, the CEO of Embarcadero, has said that the future for the combined business is in the developer tool space, and this is showing in the product road map for the year ahead. One result will be the release of architect editions of RAD Studio, combining DatabaseGear and CodeGear tools. One change has been Jason’s own job which now includes responsibility for the DatabaseGear products alongside CodeGear.
It’s synergies like this that excite Jason as it means that the 80 per cent of commercial Delphi developers who work with databases will have access to the tools they need to deliver code more quickly and more efficiently. Bringing Embarcadero’s database skills to CodeGear is going to be an important step for the merged business as it will help developers work with business logic and database application code, making database development part of the developer workflow. There’ll also be change management tools, focused on helping manage developer roles. The aim is a single tool that can work end-to-end so enabling developers to, as the new company’s slogan has it, “Design it, build it, run it.”
There’s also been success on other fronts, with both JBuilder and DBArtisan winning awards in the last year. Recognition is good, but the future depends on sales, not awards. Following the merger, CodeGear goes into the future as part of a $100 million dollar business with over 3 million customers. That’s a substantial portion of the estimated 15 million developers around the world, which Jason describes as “a big slice of a growing market.” It’s important for Embarcadero and CodeGear to remain independent of database and platform vendors so that its tools can support a large cross section of those millions of potential users – which means there are plenty of opportunities to be examined.
The Tiburon release
The next big launches on the horizon are new versions of Delphi and C++ Builder. There are a lot of expectations for Delphi 2009 (codenamed ‘Tiburon’) as it is a major upgrade and, along with C++ Builder 2009, builds on the 2007 releases. CodeGear has been using the lessons learned from its return to its developer roots to give both its languages and its IDE a major overhaul. The merger with Embarcadero means the return of an architect edition, bringing DatabaseGear into the CodeGear IDE.
Another area on which CodeGear has been focusing is tools for Agile development. That’s not surprising as Jason notes that the company is “using Agile methods inside the business and this comes through into the tooling.” Supporting flexible, team-based ways of working is an important feature of CodeGear’s development tools, and JBuilder 2009 will add tools to help developers get the development environment they want, as well as supporting team development and a wide range of collaboration tools. Jason adds: “It was what our developers needed, as well as our customers.”
User interfaces are also an area where a lot of work is being done, with features in Delphi 2009 and JBuillder 2009 (and in an upcoming version of the RAD Studio bundle) that are intended to make it easier to develop innovative, high-quality user interfaces. These include the ability to use AJAX and VCL (the Visual Component Library) together to build Web 2.0 style user interfaces, as well as support for Vista-style Windows forms.
Of course UI isn’t the only focus of CodeGear’s tools, and any front-end needs to be developed along with the rest of an application stack. That’s where DataSnap comes in as it allows Delphi developers to work with database applications, giving what Jason calls “an easy way to connect and use the backend platform and bring it forward in a rich way.” One big change in the new version of DataSnap is a switch to a DCOM-free approach which builds on web standards like JSON to support what CodeGear is calling “ultra-thin clients”.
This is where CodeGear can build on Embarcadero’s database tools, bringing database development and application development into a single IDE. This approach will allow a developer working in Delphi to use DatabaseGear tools to explore the back-end databases that drive their application – all through a single window. Jason describes the process used to develop this next generation IDE as CodeGear looking “at the flow through the tools and focusing on the ‘developer as user’ with a seamless intuitive user experience.” The idea of ‘developer as user’ is an important part of CodeGear’s work on its new generation of tools, with the intention of simplifying and accelerating the development process.
Language updates
Of course a new release of Delphi means a new generation of the Delphi language, as well as an updated IDE. The result is a COM-free approach to development which lets Delphi applications work with Windows APIs, but using its own libraries to build powerful business logic components that are 
A Beta version of Delphi 2009 shows some of the new components such as the
Riobbon Controls and the unicode enhancements that have been made to the
native Win32 VCL.efficient and secure. Delphi 2009 includes an enhanced language that adds support for native generics as well as anonymous methods.
Outside the core language new libraries add a new set of UI controls that include support for Vista. These also allow developers working on Windows 2000 or Windows XP to develop applications that will run on Vista, taking advantage of its new UI, without having to upgrade to new hardware and a whole new way of working. Delphi’s native code is an alternative to .NET although you’ll still be able to work with .NET through its COM APIs.
Jason pointed out that Delphi 2009 will add Unicode support to the VCL, making it the default string type, allowing Delphi applications to work with Unicode throughout the application stack. Unicode is a key technology for Delphi’s future as CodeGear will be using it to support developers working in emerging markets. It’ll allow applications to be internationalised more effectively, giving Delphi 2009 stronger multi-language support.
VCL is an important part of the CodeGear story as it allows Delphi to work with a whole range of Microsoft operating systems, from Windows 2000 to Windows XP and Vista, without requiring different development environments for each operating system. Native development is key to this approach as it means applications don’t need large support libraries to run on older PCs – something that’s important in emerging markets, where hardware may not be as new as in the developed West. There are plenty of machines out there that can’t run .NET so VCL helps deliver applications that can run on those as well as on the latest hardware.
Updating C++ Builder
Delphi and JBuilder aren’t CodeGear’s only development tools, and C++ Builder will be getting an update as well. This will include similar features to Delphi 2009 along with improved language support for the latest C++ standards. The Delphi relationship will also mean that C++ Builder will gain tools for working with UML models and support for LiveSource class diagrams. Like Delphi 2009, there’ll also be support for multiple languages.
CodeGear will be making trial versions of its development tools available shortly after release so that developers can get to grips with the new language and IDE features before they start. The new and old versions will co-exist, so project migration should be easy to handle.
With VCL at the heart of its roadmap, CodeGear is ready to start delivering on the promises of the Embarcadero merger. Rebranding Embarcadero’s tools as DatabaseGear is one part of the story –the other is the long term relationship between CodeGear and Embarcadero, particularly as many of Embarcadero’s key staff come from Borland backgrounds. Shared history and a shared vision are good grounds for a successful merger, and with the upcoming 2009 releases the future for CodeGear is looking good.
How the re-branded Embarcadero products fit in with CodeGear's tools and with the 'Design It.
Build It. Run It.' concept.
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SIMON BISSON
Simon is a freelance IT writer and consultant. He can be found in South West London dreaming up new things to do with XML and Web Services.
simonb@hardcopymag.com
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