I haven't had much time lately to blog, but I figured I'd put a poll asking how long people have used Delphi. This poll will be up for the entire month of October so we can get as many people as possible to respond.
Update: If you have used Delphi for more than 5 years, and clearly a lot of you have, and you feel 5 years isn't even close to the amount of time you've used Delphi, then post a comment we'd all love to read it!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Poll: How long have you used Delphi?
25 comments:
Chris - given Delphi is over 12 years old now, having '> 5 years' as the last option is (IMO) a bit broad, especially given Delphi 7 came out in 2002 (I think).
Im using over 11 years!!!
12 years, I have waited for v1 to be released
Chris,
I suspect your going to find that the VAST majority of folks started with Delphi in the 1995-2001 time frame. That would be before the first release of dotNET in February 2002.
MS dotNET (Visual Studio) and Java have slowly sucked the critical mass out of the Delphi market. Developing in Delphi is now considered super risky these days, as managers believe that they simply will not be able to find enough bodies to do the work. The perception in the US is that there is safety inside the MS and Java herds. Only established VAR businesses and non-web risky startups are looking at Delphi. I am not sure what can be done to change this.
Certainly, to grow the Delphi market, you're going to have to THINK DIFFERENT. You cannot follow dotNET and Java too closely, as you can't out-gun them. You can't be a safer bet than those two choices (or can you?), but you can allow managers to pick Delphi based on other criteria. Could you build an open source Rails like framework for Delphi and FreePascal? You need some buzz.
Tom
12 years (since Delphi 1).
Maybe a better pool would be which was your first Delphi version?
Hmmm...
I bought Delphi 1 when it first came out. Did a little bit with it, then changed jobs and didn't have time for programming for quite a while.
Bought the Personal edition of Delphi 6 in 2001 (I think), when I was looking to change jobs again and wanted to update my skills a bit on a shoestring. Worked with it a little bit, and then my marriage went on the skids and I ended up staying with the non-programming job.
Then, in 2004, I got back into Delphi seriously, and have been working with it fairly regularly since then. Got 2005 (never used it, stayed with 6PE), 2006 (used it for a couple of new projects) and just received RS2007.
So...depending on how you look at it, I've used Delphi for either 12 years or 4 years. I voted the latter. ;-)
I've been using Delphi since about six months before it's public release as part of an early-experience program by Borland Canada.
I think that most people who are using Delphi have been using it for more than 5 years. I started with Delphi 2.
Chris,
I have been using Delphi since D1 and stopped at D7 after reading about user experiences with D8, D2005 etc. I write small utility apps with it and so have no need even now to upgrade to D2007 or RadStudio2007 although Generics(Win32) and LINQ!!(?) in the next release may be tempting for an upgrade.
I can hack some code to make apps work under Vista with D7 but there is a feeling about where Delphi is really going in the long term.
Some new and innovative ideas are needed. Think outside of boxes.
. Delphi to Javascript
. Built in Flash component
. Make the Browser the TForm!!
In 1991, it was Turbo 5.5 (for ages)....
then Turbo for Windows (anyone remember that?)...
then BPW 7 (awesome in it's day, and syntax highlighting too!)...
then Delphi C/S...
then Delphi 3 C/S...
then Delphi 4 C/S - but only for a few weeks, lots of trouble with imagelists and graphics cards, then we went back to Delphi 3...
then Delphi 5 C/S...
then Delphi 7 C/S for a long, long time...
and (very recently) Delphi/Windows 2007.
I just realised - Borland/Inprise/Borland/CodeGear have been providing my development tool of choice for my entire career!
And long may it continue!
(Rob Uttley)
I started with Turbo Pascal 3.0 way, way, way back in the day (1986) and have used every version since.
Some versions that stand out for me include:
TP 3.0 (1986) - got me into pascal programming. Before that it was *gulp* Basic.
TP 5.5/6.0 (1990/91) - got me hooked on oop.
does any one remember TP for Windows, yea I had it too
Borland Pascal (?1993-4) - This was my work horse of the Turbo pascal series.
D1/2 (1995/96) - paradigm shift for me again
D7 (2001) - was my work horse for a long time
D6/7 (2006 - ) - now my primary development environment.
Gosh, I guess it has been 20+ years now. Doh! feeling a bit old.
I'm in the "a very long time" category too...since the days of TP 3.0 and every version of TP and Delphi since then. I hope the comments here don't start yet another long ridiculous string of comments about how using Delphi is "risky" and "not long-term", what a bunch of garbage. We have several core units that calculate cash-flows for our financial models that haven't needed ANY modification since I started programming. We've choosen to modify some to take advantage of more memory, 32-bit, etc. But the units are largely identical. We've been able to bring so many things along because we stuck with Delphi.
Bought Delphi 1 on the day of its release in Australia. Loaded and demoed it at a customer site that afternoon and had a job there using it the following day to replace some VB work that had been dragging on.....
Used it ever since.
Wow, you guys rock! I clearly should have added more granular choices but unfortunately since the poll has started it cannot be modified. But I love the comments. This is great. Please keep them coming and keep them positive. No negativity around here. Feedback is always welcome but keep it positive.
12 years from Delphi 1. For TP, first used TP 1.00A on CP/M (an Apple //e with Z80 card).
26 years Delphi experience. How is that possible? I started using Anders Hejlsberg's Nascom Pascal before he signed up with Borland. Then came Compas Pascal, PolyPascal, TurboPascal, BorlandPascal etc.
I started programming in Pascal in 1986. First on a Minix system, later on the Sinclair QL. (Yes, the QL had a Basic version as standard programming language but I preferred Pascal.) Then started with Turbo Pascal 3, which I had copied illegally.
In later years I would just purchase any new Pascal compilers, starting with Turbo Pascal 6, TPW 1.5, Borland Pascal 7, Delphi 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 2005 and 2006. Delphi 2007 is actually the first version that I'm considering to just skip since it doesn't provide an additional value for me, compared to the amount of $$$ it costs...
Like so many others here I, too, started with TurboPascal - 3.02a to be precise and have purchased every edition since then, up to and including the new RAD2008 studio (at least I will have when they get 'round to releasing the software assurance list for October and I can order it then).
My entire professional career has been with Pascal/Delphi save a couple of years at the very beginning with (yechh!) COBOL.
5 years max? You kidding? You'd better start another poll right now with more choices in the 10 years range...
Strictly speaking of Delphi, I started with the beta of Delphi 1... (and no, there is no breach of NDA, as it had been given by Borland France at a pre-launch event for Borland Customers)
Yeah, you should have asked about Pascal. I think I started with Turbo on 3.0, but it was UCSD for a several years before that. And yes, I had UCSD Pascal on the QL too.
From TP 5.0 I used every version including D2007 _except_ D8 & D2005 - for obvious reasons.
Chris, imho, the Delphi stands by itself in the category of beautiful ecosystems. It isn't a Java competitor, neither .NET, neither RoR or whatever else. Imho, what makes Delphi different it's the art which can be built with it. Concentrate on this. Don't spoil it. I must confess that I’m happy that a Delphi R&D engineer is given by God with the sense of beauty (well, don’t be proud, “God given, God will take” ;-) ) and, imho, you have the responsibility to use it. IOW, don’t release a piece of code if you aren’t tempted to photograph it. It’s a shade of God, you know...
Just my 2c
Been using Delphi since D(ay)1.
Started with PolyPascal - a danish variant of Pascal, Anders H. first attempt to a PC compiler as I remember - then went to TP3.0.
Been with Borland/Inprise/Borland/CodeGear from TP3 to RAD2007.
Is that good or bad ? Nevertheless it has payed my bill's for 20+ yrs. (gosh, time flies when your having fun ;) )
Chris,
I'm using Delphi from version 1 to RAD Studio 2007....
here are my pacakages :
http://rave-notes.blogspot.com/2007/07/codegear-delphiphp-and-borland.html
7 years
I begun 2 years later, mantaining existing projects of a more seasened programmer who is now a project manager.
After 6 mounth of real pain, i like it, and i feel frustrated by the lack of true prospective for the future.
the idea is only one, open to the comunity the toolchain and involve as much people is possible with free cookies(freepascal, kylix, linux), than sell good cakes.
there is not much space for pascal in webland, because in webland the power of compiled languages is wasted and none would spend money for a closed toolchain when open and free is enough.
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