Delphi XE2 is here!

[czar]

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7...t-not-on-win32

[czar]

HI Lifepower

I have been asking at the emb forums

https://forums.embarcadero.com/threa...=390749#390749

[LP]

Thanks for the post, I've replied on EMB forums.

By the way, compiling similar project with one edit box, one button and a memo in FPC/Lazarus works without problems on the same Mac, and it does not open terminal window.

[LP]

After playing more with Delphi XE 2 Professional, I'd like to share my comments about the product.

I've been using Delphi XE 2 beta in its last months before release and it is why I've purchased Delphi XE 2 Professional right after the release. It was expensive, had to sell one of my best laptops and a home pc, since my budget was quite low, in addition to purchasing used Mac Mini with pretty good specs.

I think this release is a real bargain and it is a product I would really like to see evolve. I am still unhappy about Embarcadero's business practices, specifically the activation limit on Delphi XE 2 and the crippled/overpaid Starter editions, but I think they have finally made a product that is worth buying after Delphi 7 and Turbo Delphi.

The IDE of Delphi XE 2 is somewhat unstable, it messes up after 10-20 compilations (either internal error or a compiler error about perfectly fine code), after which you have to restart the IDE. This is strange, since the beta I've been using was rock stable.

The 32-bit compiler seems to be the same as in Delphi XE and earlier versions. Although some people always complained about its FPU performance, for me it seemed pretty good, performance critical tasks could always be coded in assembly using MMX/SSE instructions.

The 64-bit compiler is excellent in optimizations. Suffice to say that 32-bit pixel alpha blending coded in Pascal, which in 32-bit compiler was a performance black-hole, in 64-bit compiler is highly optimized - the entire blending is made without memory accesses using internal registers. The compiler seem to use a great deal of available internal CPU registers (although I would like to see it using all of them).

I was also surprised that they have provided DirectX headers that work perfectly both in 32-bit and 64-bit, although OpenGL headers on Windows seem to be quite outdated.

Mac OS compiler seems to be quite polished as well, although it is still 32-bit (but this is an advantage because Delphi's 32-bit compiler is very well polished). Although I'm still not fond of the PAServer requirement, I like their solution to overcome Apple's barriers.

Documentation still requires a lot of work, for certain parts of FireMonkey there is no documentation at all, so you have to do a lot of cross-platform source code digging.

FireMonkey itself, although an elegant solution to cross-platform problem, at this moment is more a marketing hype than reality. It is a very large framework that still requires a lot of work. GPU acceleration is a marketing trend, since VCL (based on GDI) on Windows XP and Windows 7 is also GPU accelerated.

FireMonkey's DirectX implementation is on the level of "Hello World" program; it seems to be made by a person who has no experience in making Direct3D applications: device initialization and texture handling are the worst (at very minimal level of implementation), the rendering pipeline is prone to DrawPrimitive overhead with no caching whatsoever. To illustrate, drawing a grid of small images 30 by 30 will give you 10 FPS or less. They really need to hire someone with Direct3D experience to rework this part.

FireMonkey's OpenGL implementation seems to be pretty polished. I wonder why they didn't provide implementation based on OpenGL for Windows, since it will require minimal code changes and is less prone to the overhead mentioned earlier.

Personally, I still think they have misjudged FireMonkey's potential as a whole - instead of purchasing this intellectual property, they should have worked on Cocoa-based VCL-like API (even if it's not compatible with VCL), since on Windows there is no beating VCL. Windows Vista and 7 native GUI controls look much better than those in FireMonkey, and they work according to user's preferences (thinking of those people who change the Windows look and those with disabilities who prefer higher contrast and different color schemes).

In any case, there are several opportunities for improvement, but even in its current state, I think Delphi XE 2 as a whole product has a lot of potential. I hope that other people can also decide to purchase Delphi XE 2 to support their development team, so we can see updates coming out very soon.

[Traveler]

Thanks for the review! I've been on the fence about buying for quite some time. It really sounded like it was a genuine step forward. But the price (well over 1000 euros for the pro version) is a pretty steep one. From your review I gather it's a good product, but still not quite there in some of the key areas. I think I'm going to hold off at least until it has matured somewhat more.

[czar]

Hi Lifepower

I had written big long reply but then I lost it - so I will do short reply instead.

I agree mostly with your assessment. However, I have not had any IDE issues at all even though it has been the only compiler I have been using.

I really hope EMB continue to develop FMX and improve samples, documentation and performance. Lifepower, can't you go an work for them?