Re: Delphi to bytecode compiler

From: Jonathan Neve (jonathan_at_!nospam!microtec.fr)
Date: 08/28/04

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    Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2004 07:48:00 +0200

    Phil Shrimpton wrote:
    > Jonathan Neve wrote:
    >
    >
    >>I don't see why it would be easier to write a Delphi compiler for .NET
    >>than for Java.
    >
    >
    > Because all the visual stuff uses the Windows API, which is still
    > available in .Net via PInvoke. A VCL.Java would need to be totally
    > rewritten not to use it.

    Yes, that's a good point. Still, I don't see any technical limitation or
    anything major that couldn't be done. It's basically just a bit of work.

    Besides, as I pointed out elsewhere in this thread, it wouldn't really
    be a matter of "rewriting" the VCL, since most of the functionality
    provided by the VCL is already available, in a different form, with the
    standard Java library. All that would be required would be to create
    wrapper classes with the same names as the Delphi equivalents, and add a
    few nice things from the VCL which Java doesn't have.

    >>It
    >>might be necessary to take only a subset of the Delphi language, but
    >>most of it should still be convertable...
    >
    >
    > I think the 'language' would be the easy part to do, it is the visual
    > stuff that would be major work. I think this is why Borland aborted
    > their attempt; they had a working compiler for the 'language' side of
    > things, but soon realised that people would want the 'visual' side of
    > things, which would be too much work and effort.

    I quite agree, but I think it's worth the effort. Imagine: you would
    basically have a cross-platform Delphi! If Java were a more attractive
    environnement for developping desktop applications, I expect a lot more
    applications would be written in Java, and therefore, people would no
    longer be tied into Microsoft Windows, they would be free to choose a
    better OS if they wish.

    I don't think the performance of Java is really a big issue. I think the
    real issue is that no existing IDE for Java can enable one to write a
    Java desktop application with anything like the ease of IDEs like VB or
    Delphi. Therefore, it seems to me that Java is currently used mostly for
    the web (applets, J2EE, JSP, servlets, etc).

    The only other big issue I have with Java is the deployment aspect
    (deploying a JAR isn't as user friendly as deploying a native
    exectuable), and the memory consumption (due to loading one JVM per Java
    application!). But I expect both of these issues will be addressed as
    soon as people start using Java for the desktop in a serious way...

    Jonathan Neve.

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