Quiet Delphi (was RE: [DUG] migrate app from firebird to informix)

[Phil Scadden]

> I have been thinking about this too. I think that a fair number of people
> have moved to .NET (I admit to using C# a lot), but also I think that the
> people who use Delphi now are pretty much high to guru level, so don’t need
> much help anymore. The list is relegated to one off questions of an unusual
> nature.

Well I for one am still using Delphi 7. Its my buttress against using C++
on windows and avoiding VS. I can work with OpenGL, the compiler
produces code that is fast enough (C++ not sufficiently faster to be
compelling anyway). I have VS .NET for C++ and the IDE sucks big time.

.NET leaves me cold at moment. For code where speed isnt crucial, Java
does fine and runs on all our platforms. The small amount of web stuff I
have to do is for ArcIMS and again java serves fine. Since increasingly
development is moving to MPI on 64bit cpu clusters, Delphi,C# and Java just arent 
starters. C++ becomes unavoidable with gdb/dbx for debugger. IDE? not
there. Oh, and Fortran just doesn't go away :-(

Whats killing Delphi is the lack of cross-platform. Why anyone uses C# is
something of mystery to me. What is the perceived advantage over Java? Moving
to another language without cross-platform (esp unix) support isnt a go for
me.
----------------------------------------------------------
Phil Scadden, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences
764 Cumberland St, Private Bag 1930, Dunedin, New Zealand
Ph +64 3 4799663, fax +64 3 477 5232