Delphi Explorer vs Professional

[Peter Wade]

Hi,

I would like to know if anyone here is using the free version of Delphi Turbo Explorer and knows how capable it is.

I have got the free version of Turbo Delpi Explorer which I haven't used much yet. Borland have just sent me an offer to upgrade to the Professional version at around 40% off but I have to decide in about a week.

I am interested in writing games and applications but I do not need Enterprise style databases or client/server develpment over networks. Am I likely to find the Explorer verion too limited?

[Mirage]

With Explorer you can write applications and sell them. You can not install any components which are not come with Explorer version but you still can use them by creating corresponding objects in run-time instead of using form designer.
As a consequence, with Turbo Explorer use of GLScene and other component-based engines will be not so comfortable as with Professional version.
For non-component based engines and console applications I can't see the difference between Turbo Explorer and Professional.

[chronozphere]

I have some expirience with Turbo Delphi Explorer. First i used Delphi 7 which works great but is a bit old now. Then i downloaded Turbo delphi explorer:

I noticed that there where a lot of small extra features which makes programming a lot easier and fester. But it wasn't very stable.. i got AT LEAST each 30 minutes an acces violation from the IDE itsself :shock: They occur just when im typing, and sometimes when i compile something. I haven't found any reproducable errors, but i think this isn't normal :? I'm running vista here. I guess you could try Turbo Explorer yourself because it's free. If you don't get errors like i do, it should be a good choice.

If anyone has a cleu why Turbo Explorer functions weird on my system, please say so (Or PM me).

[technomage]

All I can say that the winner of this years competition, CrashBlock was written using Turbo Explorer.

[Peter Wade]

Thank you all for your replies.

I suppose my main concern is about using libraries that are not part of the standard system. I know that I can't add new components to the toolbox in Explorer but I wasn't sure if I could write code using things like SDL and possibly even Direct X. Based on your replies I think that Explorer will be fine for my needs.

[arthurprs]

I like turbo delphi, but not its loading time

[pstudio]

I have some expirience with Turbo Delphi Explorer. First i used Delphi 7 which works great but is a bit old now. Then i downloaded Turbo delphi explorer:

I noticed that there where a lot of small extra features which makes programming a lot easier and fester. But it wasn't very stable.. i got AT LEAST each 30 minutes an acces violation from the IDE itsself :shock: They occur just when im typing, and sometimes when i compile something. I haven't found any reproducable errors, but i think this isn't normal :? I'm running vista here. I guess you could try Turbo Explorer yourself because it's free. If you don't get errors like i do, it should be a good choice.

If anyone has a cleu why Turbo Explorer functions weird on my system, please say so (Or PM me).

I've experienced some of the same things.
Also sometimes the Turbo IDE can't find the units I'm using even though it had no problems with the units a few seconds before, and it's still capable off compiling the project :?

But I still think Turbo Explorer is great and with Asphyre 4 and Phoenix it's easy to make both DirectX and OpenGL games.