Increasing traffic on PGD...

[Eric]

I don't recall that there was free version of Delphi before Delphi 6 personal and it was still popular.

Previous versions were available for free via the CD that game with various magazines (at least in France, Germany and UK, can't say for other countries)

In addition, Embarcadero is offering (similar to what Borland did) Delphi versions to academic institutions at huge discounts (90%-97% discount).

That's only good for students and academics, and more hassle that getting Visual Studio or Eclipse (which can be download with no fuss).

There are many institutions, including the one I was in, that have a very strong software engineering program.

How, I don't doubt there are good institutions, but "many" is another story entirely, and anyway, that's only for the student side, and only for those students that have taken such a course, so it is only an option for a small minority.

Yes, studying is not easy here at ITESM, you will probably have to study overtime, working on projects at night and so on, but it's totally worth it.

As you just said, these course take a lot of time. Some require a background. Many are heavy on theory, light on practical aspects, etc. They're just not (and can't be) and alternative to more focused articles. They cater a different crowd with different needs.

This, however, does not mean that you should put away the education.

That wasn't my point, I've got quite a high degree myself (not sure how it translates, that's one that is normally completed at 23-24 yo), and that was quite a few years ago already.

What I'm saying is that I don't think PGD should assume a public constituted of software engineering PhDs ;-)