Getting started with Embarcadero Delphi
Remarks#
Delphi is a general-purpose language based on an Object Pascal dialect with its roots coming from Borland Turbo Pascal. It comes with its own IDE designed to support rapid application development (RAD).
It allows cross-platform native (compiled) application development from a single code base. Currently supported platforms are Windows, OSX, iOS and Android.
It comes with two visual frameworks:
- VCL: Visual Component Library specifically designed for Windows development wrapping Windows native controls and support for creating custom ones.
- FMX: FireMonkey cross-platform framework for all supported platforms
Versions#
| Version | Numeric version | Product name | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.0 | Borland Delphi | 1995-02-14 |
| 2 | 2.0 | Borland Delphi 2 | 1996-02-10 |
| 3 | 3.0 | Borland Delphi 3 | 1997-08-05 |
| 4 | 4.0 | Borland Delphi 4 | 1998-07-17 |
| 5 | 5.0 | Borland Delphi 5 | 1999-08-10 |
| 6 | 6.0 | Borland Delphi 6 | 2001-05-21 |
| 7 | 7.0 | Borland Delphi 7 | 2002-08-09 |
| 8 | 8.0 | Borland Delphi 8 for .NET | 2003-12-22 |
| 2005 | 9.0 | Borland Delphi 2005 | 2004-10-12 |
| 2006 | 10.0 | Borland Delphi 2006 | 2005-11-23 |
| 2007 | 11.0 | CodeGear Delphi 2007 | 2007-03-16 |
| 2009 | 12.0 | CodeGear Delphi 2009 | 2008-08-25 |
| 2010 | 14.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio 2010 | 2009-08-15 |
| XE | 15.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE | 2010-08-30 |
| XE2 | 16.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE2 | 2011-09-02 |
| XE3 | 17.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE3 | 2012-09-03 |
| XE4 | 18.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE4 | 2013-04-22 |
| XE5 | 19.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE5 | 2013-09-11 |
| XE6 | 20.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE6 | 2014-04-15 |
| XE7 | 21.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE7 | 2014-09-02 |
| XE8 | 22.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE8 | 2015-04-07 |
| 10 Seattle | 23.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio 10 Seattle | 2015-08-31 |
| 10.1 Berlin | 24.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio 10.1 Berlin | 2016-04-20 |
| 10.2 Tokyo | 25.0 | Embarcadero RAD Studio 10.2 Tokyo | 2017-03-22 |
Hello World
This program, saved to a file named HelloWorld.dpr, compiles to a console application that prints “Hello World” to the console:
program HelloWorld;
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}
begin
WriteLn('Hello World');
end.Show ‘Hello World’ using the VCL
This progam uses VCL, the default UI components library of Delphi, to print “Hello World” into a message box. The VCL wrapps most of the commonly used WinAPI components. This way, they can be used much easier, e.g. without the need to work with Window Handles.
To include a dependency (like Vcl.Dialogs in this case), add the uses block including a comma-separated list of units ending with an semicolon.
program HelloWindows;
uses
Vcl.Dialogs;
begin
ShowMessage('Hello Windows');
end.Show ‘Hello World’ Using WinAPI MessageBox
This program uses the Windows API (WinAPI) to print “Hello World” into a message box.
To include a dependency (like Windows in this case), add the uses block including a comma-separated list of units ending with an semicolon.
program HelloWorld;
uses
Windows;
begin
MessageBox(0, 'Hello World!', 'Hello World!', 0);
end.Cross-platform Hello World using FireMonkey
program CrossPlatformHelloWorld;
uses
FMX.Dialogs;
{$R *.res}
begin
ShowMessage('Hello world!');
end.Most of the Delphi supported platforms (Win32/Win64/OSX32/Android32/iOS32/iOS64) also support a console so the WriteLn example fits them well.
For the platforms that require a GUI (any iOS device and some Android devices), the above FireMonkey example works well.