Re: Moving to Delphi 2005
- From: "Paul Dunn" <paul.dunn4@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 16:22:30 GMT
Ryan wrote:
> I'm looking at using Delphi 2005, but also need to have a copy of D7
> to use for old apps (support).
[Let's get this out the way - I just "upgraded" from D5 to D2005 Architect
Trial, and these are my experiences. YMMV]
Unless you really, *really* need .net support, then stick with just D7 - I
downloaded the architect trial about a week ago, and it's bloody awful.
The IDE is crap, counter-intuitive and unvelievably slow. I have a project
that contains some 30-odd forms which takes about 3-5 seconds to load in
Delphi 5, but takes over 4 minutes to load in Delphi2005. And that's nothing
compared to the time (1.8 mins) it takes to actually load the IDE. This is
on a 1.7ghz PC, btw - slow loading like that is inexcusable. The IDE is
confusing at first, trying to figure out how to make the damned thing look
like the old Delphi versions takes a while, but can be done. All the form
designers are now static on screen as part of the code editor (you can't
drag forms around like you used to) unless you opt for a more "classic" look
which results in you waiting up to 10 seconds for your form changes to take
effect. And why, oh why does every form have it's positioning set to allow
the OS to choose where your form goes onscreen? Re-setting 30-odd forms to
"poDesigned" by hand was not fun, but it was necessary, as forms where
appearing at positions that the user did *not* request them to.
Oh, and although it's a minor cosmetic thing - the handy, unobstrusive
helper tooltips you know and love have been replaced in favour of huge boxes
with massive fonts and gradients. You'll also need to turn those off if you
like to be able to see the code around the part you're typing.
The Help files are frequently wrong. The biggest problem there lies with
D2005's component support, as the help file directs you to install
components using menu items that don't exist and then when you come to
recompile your components you find that they don't behave as they used to
do. Also you can't "override" a component by dropping a modified version of
the .pas into you app's source folder. Everything seems to be done by
packages, which means more crap floating about. And the component palette is
*massive*, even when laid out horizontally with small icons.
Your debug desktop settings won't be saved between debug sessions - if those
callstack/local vars etc windows appear (docked to the main editor, I might
add, thus preventing you from seeing much of your code) you can close them
or dock them to the bottom of the screen, but if you resume your app, then
the next time you see the debug desktop they'll be back as they were - in
the way. I can see the point of saving your desktop layout, but it really
should stay set to your liking throughout the course of one Delphi session.
The compiler produces yet *more* bloat than previous versions of Delphi, and
has not improved in producing decent code since Delphi 5. My large
application runs on average 150-200% slower than when compiled in Delphi 5.
This might not have changed in D6/7, as they both also compile slower code
than D5 does in my experience.
On the other hand, you don't need to rely on ThemeManager to get decent UI
theming. And once I'd got to grips with the insane component handling it was
trivial to get stuff ported over. Nothing actually worked, but it did
compile.
It's not Delphi any more - it's certainly not a RAD package.
Your experience may be better than mine, I suppose it depends upon what kind
of apps you want to develop and for what target audience. You'll need a lot
of patience at first though.
D.
.
- References:
- Moving to Delphi 2005
- From: Ryan
- Moving to Delphi 2005
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