Focus needs clarity and commitment

The lenghty and oftimes chaotically circular and confusing threads
about Turbo vs BDS leave me concerned about DevCo's focus and
direction.

Just to give a concise recap, Michael Swindell stated
<
Turbos really are designed and aimed for new developers and beginners


Part of the point (his/DevCo's), AFAIU, is that BDS is the 'way'
for those who have been with us using Delphi.

This 'Way of BDS' (to paraphrase an old book title) now offers
multiple language/development approaches.

Unfortuantely, all of those additional language tools are also
offered in competing development environments.

No others compete directly with Delphi, now presumably Turbo Delphi.

Stating that Turbo Delphi is mainly for the 'new users' is, I suggest'
a very dangerous way for DevCo to lose their focus: TurboPascal/Delphi
is what brung us all (or most) to this dance, and without which, there
would have been no Borland and would be no DevCo.

A focus is best maintained by being clear - within and without -
and, to all extents possible, concise.

I suggest that the real danger here lies in trying to promote all of
the BDS languages equally. This will, over time, begin to debilitate
the vitality of Delphi and obscure it's value as the best _way_ to
develop.

If DevCo doesn't truly believe this, then we may all be in for a
slippery slope. This isn't about religion, it's about building tools
efficiently. The extent to which a builder believes in the quality of
his or her tools is directly related to the quality of what they build.

But it is also even more fundamentally about the maintenance of a
culture, and all cultures have a direct and dynamic relationship with
language. The vitality of the Delphi community is unique, especially
in terms of it size. That vitality is a result of the successful
aculturation which was born of the language and the quality of the
resulting technology.

If DevCo is to succeed, then they need to remember that Nicholas Wirth
conceptualized and designed pascal as a language to teach programming.

Pascal's learning curve is certainly among the shortest. His genius
created an idea whose greatness naturally continued to evolve
not just successfully, but magnificently.

This is _why_ it should still be strongly marketed as a first
language.

The VCL and OOP make it, in most cases, the best to build with and
the easiest to maintain.

DevCo also needs to be handing _Delphi_ to every high school and
college, and specifically 'outing' the success of major products like
Skype, etc, that the younger will identify with.

--
George Newton
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Turbo: A great idea, not properly thought through... ?
    ... currently possible under Delphi 2006. ... My experience is that people prefer one language + one ... I think it is important to get Delphi BDS away from the VS ... Seems the Turbo line misses the point in two key areas: ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: Turbo Delphi... Why ? :(
    ... language will they be using - C++, Delphi Win32, C# or Delphi .NET. ... So you will never need to use more than one language at a time? ... The thing is, BDS satisfies some of our customers needs, and Turbos ... In addition - NEW developers and students how ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: What after Delphi 2007?
    ... since D2007 is part of the BDS line, not part of the Tubo line. ... While the Turbo line started out identical to the Delphi Win 32 ... Pro to whatever sku has the features you need. ... Note that D2007 for Win 32 is the pre-release of the Delphi ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: How would you steer Delphi if you were Nick?
    ... Do we really believe that Microsoft will keep changing .Net forever? ... Perhaps with Highlander, BDS will catch up? ... and by then Delphi might have ... choosing an old-fashioned language like Object Pascal, ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: Can Turbo Delphi co-exist with BDS 2006 in the same machine?
    ... that has BDS installed. ... Turbo Delphi == BDS 2006 Delphi? ... Turbo Pro is BDS 2006 Pro with only the single personality installed, ... install components. ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)