Delphi 12 is Coming!

I've been super busy the last few months and my blog has languished but with the upcoming release of Delphi 12 (code named Yukon), I'm dedicating some time to getting my head around it and will be writing a little here and there. But first, the obligatory disclaimer:

"This blog post is based on a pre-release version of the RAD Studio software and it has been written with specific permission by Embarcadero. No feature is committed until the product GA release."

With that out of the way, a personal disclaimer--this is a very short and simple first-glance brush with the latest IDE and won't reveal any new features. However, if you are a beta tester and installing and uninstalling Delphi along with several GetIt Packages, you may be happy to know that I've updated AutoGetIt to support Delphi 12 and make the process a little smoother.

AutoGetIt is a tool that allows you to select several GetIt Packages, save your list to a file, then recall that list later and either uninstall or reinstall them all with a single button (and, of course, acknowledging the license agreement dialogs). If you'd like more details, you can read Embarcadero's write-up about it.

Now, about my first impression with Delphi 12. First of all, I installed it on a virtual machine running Windows 10 with no other version of Delphi on it. The vm software is VMWare Fusion on a Mac Mini which allowed me to test Mac apps pretty easily. 

The first app I pulled up was a simple open source program I wrote several years ago called, DelphiVersions. The idea is to list a bunch of strings based on various compiler directives, then run it for different configurations and platforms. Actually, it's a suite of applications including a Console app, a VCL app, a FireMonkey Desktop app, and a FireMonkey mobile app. I didn't take the time to hook up an iPhone or an Android device tonight but did run it through all the other platforms. I was happy to note that it loaded and ran quite easily and just as comfortably as it had using previous versions of Delphi. In other words, no big changes to simple standard applications means there's a good chance my productivity will stay high as I upgrade.

Here's a screenshot of the Mac Desktop version:

Note that the links displayed at the bottom of the program are NOT active--I simply filled them in with hopes that someday they will be. I'll commit the change once Delphi 12 is released.

I loaded a few other small and insignificant apps and then updated AutoGetIt as I mentioned above. All in all, I was pleased with the very familiar look and feel of the IDE, the quick opening of the options screens, and the fact everything ran the first time.

In my next blog, I'll explore some of the new features and run more complicated applications.