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https://blog.dummzeuch.de

I released quite a bit of interesting code to github over the years: YouTube DATA API v3 parsing: https://github.com/bLightZP/Delphi-YouTube-Channel-parsing-plugin-for-Zoom-Player Basic RSS feed parsing code: https://github.com/bLightZP/Delphi-RSS-feed-parsing-plugin-for-Zoom-Player TheAudioDB MetaData/Image scraping code: https://github.com/bLightZP/Delphi-theaudiodb.com-Zoom-Player-media-scraping-plug-in TheMovieDB MetaData/Image scraping code: https://github.com/bLightZP/Delphi-themoviedb.org-Zoom-Player-media-scraping-plug-in OpenSubtitles.org subtitle search & scrape code: https://github.com/bLightZP/Delphi-OpenSubtitles.org-API-support-for-Zoom-Player A basic cross-platform calculator https://github.com/bLightZP/ElegantCalculator https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inmatrix.ElegantCalculator Adapted old code to work as cross-platform pure-pascal image scaling with filters (bicubic, bilinear, etc): https://github.com/bLightZP/ImageInterpolation Adapted old code to work as a cross-platform drawing of an anti-aliased circle (can be modified to draw rount-rect as well): https://github.com/bLightZP/AntiAliasedCircle I forked a QRCode generating source code and greatly optimized it (~ x50 faster): https://github.com/bLightZP/DelphiZXingQRCode The original Delphi scanline color-conversion implementation was very slow, so I optimized it: https://github.com/bLightZP/OptimizedDelphiFMXScanline

Tested 42 and Lorem ipsum, that seems pretty complete to me. 😉

Amazing amount of unittests

I'd use the DevExpress controls anyway, nothing can beat them in the VCL design. Just a single dxLayoutControl with manually added custom groups and maybe a few cxPageControls placed into it if necessary (and ActionList+dxBarManager+cxStatusBar etc for the toolbars) can easily handle this layout, and the latest versions are significally faster than the initial releases of the said control. The design phase may look tedious but once everything is ready and locked where necessary there will be no problems in maintaining/extending/modifying the UI.

https://darkreader.org/

Hi all, Just wanted to let you know I made available an online training course about web development with Delphi: "Introduction to TMS Web Core". Its got a theoretical introduction about web applications, then goes into TMS Web Core and Pas2JS compiler, explaining the idiosyncrasies of both web applications and TMS Web Core specifically. Course link: https://courses.landgraf.dev/p/web-applications-with-delphi-tms-web-core --- Wagner Landgraf

OK, I found why I thought the problem to be fixed: It happens only under some complex conditions which were not always satisfied in my test configuration.

Jokes aside, any user that feels that the testing could be broadened can write some tests and submit a PR.

SVN is now updated with the missing library source files, so long since I setup a new repository forgotten how authentication was set-up. Angus

*puts sunglasses on and holds a pen up*

Check out bubble.io and similar platforms. They may be better suited to your needs.

Delphi is no easier than Java to learn. Delphi on mobile hasn't had the greatest track record. For instance at the moment there is no 64 bit Android compiler, thus locking delphi out of the app store. Yes there are temporary workarounds but it is not a great situation. Embarcadero are struggling to keep pace with developments on the platforms that they attempt to support. Quality has historically been a huge problem for Delphi. Both in their various compilers and related tooling, and their library code. They have a track record of releasing products and libraries that are full of bugs, and then spending many releases trying to fix them. The VCL remains a brilliant piece of work and for native Windows UI development it still excels. If I were you I'd widen the search. You say that you don't have time to learn a more difficult language. And that you want to start a business on the side. To be honest, those two statements don't sound very compatible. Making a business work takes a huge investment of time. Being a successful programmer demands mastery of tools and language. And that takes time. There are no shortcuts.

The Delphi source code for UltraExplorer is now available in SVN at http://svn.magsys.co.uk:8443/svn/mustangpeak/ username = ics and password = ics for read access. The installable version may be downloaded from https://www.magsys.co.uk/delphi/ultraexplorer.asp Angus

Dude, before my time. Also, how we miss Rob Kennedy from the Delphi world.

Hmmm.... maybe you're both right! I think we need to be discussing other languages here because I can't recall a mainstream language with a "with" statement that does what Delphi's does (Python has a "with" keyword but for a different purpose). So perhaps the question should be asked... how do other languages address this problem? Joe Gregorio of Google once gave a talk in which he stated that design patterns were "language smell". He stated that when the same code is written over and over that's where a feature is needed. He talked about the lack of design patterns in Python and other languages like LISP and then went through how features like first class functions in those languages removed the need for the classic design patterns. Perhaps Delphi's "with" points to language smell and we can look at what features languages without that smell have that eliminate it. Why are people using with? To avoid writing code like this: someBigThing.x := 7; someBigThing.y := 8; someBigThing.z := 9; No one wants to write "someBigThing" over and over. We also see code in Delphi where an object is initialized, then lots of parameters are set one by one (creating a temptation to use "with") and then finally an "execute" method or similar is called. I once dubbed this "the Delphi pattern" and then discovered that it's also a problem/pattern in Java and they have a name for it. Unfortunately, I can't recall it right now. 😞 But how is this dealt with in languages other than Delphi and Java? It turns out there is a language feature which eliminates this pattern.... named parameters. The code above can become No ambiguity of the with statement, yet no redundancy of omitting it either! The "Delphi pattern" for object initialization can disappear too into one line of code. If Delphi introduced named arguments the with statement could be eliminated, removing the dangers, while at the same time preserving the benefits and brevity it granted. A simple fix that makes everyone happy and incidentally provides one of the modern language features needed to design some beautiful APIs. The funny thing is that the language actually does have named parameters, but only under very specific circumstances.... https://stackoverflow.com/questions/885942/named-optional-parameters-in-delphi Trivia note: The above is the only Delphi-related Stack Overflow question without a reply from David Heffernan.

This is a quote from Knuth's C adaptation of the original Adventure game by Will Crowther:

We are talking about TRect here. Very basic type used all over. It is not very likely that one will create his own types for just about everything. And this is where using with can easily break your code without you even realizing it is broken. This is especially problematic when used in combination with UI where testing is hard and you can have a lot of code that is poorly covered with tests that could reveal such issues. 'with' is relic of another time and another coding practices. And, yes you could shoot yourself in the foot even back then, but now it is extremely easy to do so. Not using 'with' is the best advice one could offer. It is almost like using goto and absolute. You may have some very limited use case where using it is justified, but you will not find such constructs being used at large.