Native iPhone Anwendungsentwicklung bedeutet normalerweise das Auseinandersetzen mit Objective C, der Haus- und Hof-Sprache von Apple. Man bekommt, nachdem man sich als Entwickler bei Apple registriert hat, die komplette X-Code IDE inklusiver aller Werkzeuge praktisch kostenlos zur Verfügung gestellt.

Man kann also, ohne viel Geld in die Hand nehmen zu müssen, mit der Softwareentwicklung für Mac und iPhone/iPod Touch quasi ad-hoc loslegen. Zumindest wenn man einen schnellen Internetzugang hat – der komplette SDK Download ist über 2 GB groß.

Dass dies auch in der Praxis funktioniert, sieht man sicherlich auch daran, dass es mittlerweile zehntausende Anwendungen in Apples AppStore gibt. Wieso gibt es aber nun Interesse an Pascal auf dem Mac/iPhone? Nun, wer Pascal kennt und dann mit Objective-C (OC) konfrontiert wird, erleidet doch einen gewissen Kultur-Schock. Mit “normalem” C mag man sich noch abfinden (Volker, nichts für Ungut aber wenn man dann die Syntax von OC sieht, fragt man sich doch ob der Erfinder Klammer-Fetischist war…

Nicht dass wir uns missverstehen:  Die Mac und iPhone Frameworks – rund um Cocoa –  sind superinteressant und haben klasse Features. Auch die kostenlose IDE X-Code ist hervorragend – aber für mich als alter Pascal Haudegen “geht” diese OC Sprache einfach nicht. Bisher habe ich öfter mal gesagt: “die Sprache ist wurscht, man lernt halt einfach die Syntax” – aber das war vor Objective C …

Nun haben Daniel Magin, Holger Flick und ich von RemObjects eine frühe Beta von Prism (aka Oxygene) für den Mac bekommen. Prism ist bisher als Plugin für Visual Studio bekannt geworden. Im Prinzip also Pascal für .NET.  Da .NET in seiner Mono Inkarnation auch auf dem Mac (und Linux) existiert, kam also Marc Hoffman von RemObjects  vor einiger Zeit auf die Idee das Prism Plugin mit .mono zu übersetzen.

Herausgekommen ist mittlerweile ein Beta-Plugin für MonoDevelop (die Mono IDE), welches Pascal unter Mono implementiert. Dadurch, dass Mono und MonoDevelop auch unter OSX lauffähig sind, können wir nun endlich OSX Anwendungen entwickeln, deren Sourcecode richtig gut verständlich und wartbar ist. Und das sogar mit Zugriff auf Cocoa, der Apple UI API.

Wer sich schon mal mit der iPhone Entwicklung befasst hat, wird sich nun fragen, wie man managed Mono-Anwendungen auf das iPhone bekommen soll, da da iPhone ja bekanntermaßen keinen managed Code erlaubt. Hier kommt das kommerzielle MonoTouch Add-In für MonoDevelop von Novell zum Tragen. MonoTouch tut im wesentlichen 2 Dinge:

1. .NET/Mono Schnittstelle zum iPhone  SDK, d.h. APIs wie z.B. das MapKit sind aus Mono ansprechbar
2. managed to native Code Compiler für iPhone. Der sog. mtouch Compiler übersetzt managed Mono Anwendungen in nativen iPhone CPU Code

Innerhab der MonoDevelop IDE kann man dann mithilfe von MonoTouch auf das physische IPhone deployen. Hierzu ist KEIN Jailbreak erfordelich. Auch das Ausliefern in den AppStore wird natürlich unterstützt.

Wenn man bedenkt, dass Delphi Prism/Oxygene noch eine frühe Beta ist, funktioniert das ganze schon hervorragend. Gestern konnte ich mit Daniel eine in Pascal geschriebene Anwendung auf Daniels iPhone installieren, die auf den GPS Sensor zugreift und die Koordinaten in einem Google Maps View darstellt.

Hier noch ein kurzer Blick auf die MonoDevelop Umgebung mit installiertem Oxygene:

Since Delphi 2006 there is a new Memory Manager in Delphi: FastMM4 – which is an Open Source project. That one has many advantages over the old BorlandMM. Especially for server-type applications (such as VCL for the Web / IntraWeb applications) FastMM4 is a must – many problems in IntraWeb applications have their source in the old MemoryManager, which is simlpy not designed to handle large numbers of objects being created and freed. I.e. you should download FastMM4 it if you are still on D2005 or older.

One thing that FastMM4 can help with is detecting Memory Leaks. This has been discussed on many blogs already (look for ReportMemoryLeaksOnShutdown := true;), this is really helpful and can even be configured.

Detecting Memleaks during Debugging is one important thing, but locating code that overwrites memory, or accesses objects that have already been freed is also very important. Consider the following code:

program Project20;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  //Decomment to find memory errors
  //SafeMMInstall,
  SysUtils,
  Classes;

var
  sl: TSTringList;
  i: Integer;
  j: Integer;
begin
  ReportMemoryLeaksOnShutdown := true;
  try
    sl := TStringList.create;
    i := sl.Count;
    //Free Stringlist by purpose
    sl.Free;
    //...

    //Somewhen later - by accident - access a reference to a freed Stringlist
    j := sl.Count;

    //just do something ...
    if j = i then
      Writeln('j=i')
    else
      Writeln('j<>i');
  except
    on e: Exception do
      WriteLn(e.Message);
  end;
  ReadLn;
end.

It accesses a stringlist’s count property after it has already been freed. In complex Class hierarchies this is a situation that may easily happen.

Memleak detection is turned on, but with D2009 this code will run through just fine. There are possibilities to download  FastMM’s full version and tweak it’s config file to detect this situation.

An other option is to use an other Memory Manager, as Daniel pointed out: SafeMM, which is an Open Source project, hosted at Embarcadero’s CodeCentral. Just put “SafeMMInstall” as very first item into your projects uses clause and it will raise exceptions, every time you do something which would corrupt memory. Now recompile your project and let it run – you “error-free” application might unveil quite some errors now

Use SafeMM only for debugging purposes – it’s memory footprint is about 4x the normal one.

The functionality of the following programs may be affected by the upgrade. It is recommended to de-install these programs before running the upgrade:

[…]

• Borland Delphi 7.0

Interesting that Microsoft cares about us Delphi users.

Unfortunately MS did not detect Delphi 2009 which is on this machine as well. That one still has a problem with Win7’s 64bit edition.  MS changed something in the area of Threads and how a debugger can attach to them. I would have expected from such a smart installer to explain how to fix that issue

(Seriously, that issue is logged in RAID and Nick will certainly make sure that a proper solution is developed)

As far as I understand this technology, you would even be able to keep your Delphi (or any other Embarcadero product) on a USB-stick, and run it on any computer you like.  Just plug in the stick and run the exe. Very cool!

I’m excited to get a first demo of this in my hands!

Here is the online-version of the (German) newsletter announcing this technology.

Update: The AllAccess information page also contains the note about “InstantOn. In fact it was already mentioned in the earlier press release of AllAccess – but apprently it didn’t get much attention.

Quote: “On-Demand Power with Embarcadero InstantOn™

A unique, innovative capability in All-Access is Embarcadero InstantOn. With InstantOn, you can simply click-and-run the selected tool on-demand, either locally or over your network, without full installation on your local machine. InstantOn saves valuable time by allowing quick access to tools, even in locked-down desktop environments where installing software is problematic.”

The conference is organized by S&S Media and supported by Embarcadero/CodeGear.

We have got all the top speakers, including Cary Jensson, Marco Cantu and Ray Konopka.

Many (most?) members of Delphi R&D team (including Barry Kelly – “The Delphi Compiler”) will be at the conference and there will be of course "Meet the Team" sessions.

All Sessions are online and registration is now open. The speakers list includes all those who already submitted their bio and photo. For a complete list of speakers please refer to the list of sessions for now.

If you register before April 10th, 2009, then you can take advantage of the Early Bird rebates.

When : May 13 – 16, 2009
Where: San Jose, CA, USA

More information: www.delphilive.com

S&S Media is a book/magazine publisher and software conference organizer. S&S is well known in the Delphi community for their Delphi focused "EKON" conferences and "Entwickler" magazines.

For comments, questions or concerns you may use the contact form on the DelphiLive web site, or just leave a comment here.

As an Advisory Board member I am proud to post this official pre-announcement for the next, long awaited physical Delphi conference.

Where: San Jose, CA, USA
When: May 13th – 16th 2009
Who: All Delphi developers, let it be Delphi Win 32, Delphi Prism or Delphi for PHP ones.

We will try to get all the known top speakers, from the US and Overseas to make this event absolutely rocking. The conference will be organized by Software & Support Verlag, supported by CodeGear / Embarcadero. San Jose was chosen as location as it is close to CodeGear’s HQ, so that CodeGear staff can show up easily.

Attendees

For now, block this event in your calendar if you are interested. We will keep the price affordable – details will be posted asap.

To register, please go to the DelphiLive 2009 Website – which will go online in the next two weeks. We will send announcement emails through CodeGear’s Developer Network as soon as registration is open. Make sure you are signed up at CodeGear Developer Network and CDN emails are not blocked by your spam filters.

Speakers

If you want to present sessions at Delphi Live 2009, then please stay tuned for the official Call For Papers, which will be made public in the next 2 days or so.

Topics

We will cover from basics to advanced topics all around Delphi. The final topic list will be made available as soon as the call for papers is closed.

Following is a draft of tracks:

• Architecture / Design
• OOP
• Database
• IDE, Tools & Components
• Core Development
• Basics / Fundamentals
• Native Delphi
• Delphi Prism
• Delphi & .NET
• Delphi & Web
• Delphi & PHP
• Delphi & Ruby on Rails

If you have suggestions for specific topics you would like to be covered (and which you do not want to present yourself), then feel free to post these suggestions as comments to this blog. The same goes for speakers which you would definitely like to see in San Jose.

Delphi Prism

Delphi  Prism is basically a plugin for Visual Studio, which delivers the Pascal Language plus some exciting extra features to Microsoft’s .NET development platform.

Get a trial version from CodeGear’s Code Central. Delphi Prism is part of RAD Studio 2009,  the ISO (1.4 GB!) offered for download on that page contains Prism only though.

Prism has to be activated by a license key. You can request a 14 day trial license on the same page and/or use a purchased RAD Studio 2009 license key. In other words the ISO contains the full product.

The Prism product page does not yet have a “purchase” link, but the marketing department is currently working on getting an announcement e-mail blown out. I guess that the purchase link will be activated while that happens. As the ISO contains the full product, you can switch from trial to full after the 14 days, just by entering a new license key.

Technical Information

Prism is not an upgrade of what you may know as Delphi.NET from RAD Studio 2007 or earlier. Prism is a complete new tool. It has been developed by a partner of CodeGear’s, RemObjects and comes as the solution for .NET and Mono in RAD Studio 2009. It completely “integrates” with the .NET framework. It does not bring any “Delphi Win32” dependencies. This means all executables/assemblies you will create with Prism will be “pure” .NET (or Mono) ones. No more P/invoke weirdness.

Porting Delphi Applications

The good news are: Prism Pascal is very compatible to Delphi Native Pascal. There are a couple of differences, which are well documented.

The bad news are: There is no VCL on Delphi Prism. In other words you can port business code more or less easily, but you have to re-implement your GUI code. After all I don’t think that’s  too bad though. You have all .NET possibilities instead. System.Windows.Forms, WPF, Silverlight …

If you want to dig into the technical details, then have a look at the Delphi Prism Wiki. As Delphi user you might want to start with Delphi Prism syntax compared with Delphi Win32 syntax.

More information to come (including German Prism Workshop in Darmstadt) …

Am 14.10.2009 um 10:00 (MESZ) werde ich in Zusammenarbeit mit Embarcadero/CodeGear Deutschland ein (kostenloses) Online-Seminar abhalten in dem das Verwenden von .NET Funktionen aus Delphi Win32 vorgestellt werden wird.

Die Veranstaltung wird über das Embarcadero LiveMeeting-System durchgeführt. Hier geht es zur Anmeldung.
(Die Freischaltung erfolgt 15 vor Beginn)

Um vor der Veranstaltung den LiveMeeting Client zu installieren und/oder zu testen klicken Sie bitte hier.

Inhalt:

Wer native Windows 32 (und später ggfs. Win64) Anwendungen mit Delphi  erstellt, kann sich in der Regel auf schnellen, stabilen Code und kurze,  effektive Entwicklungszyklen einstellen. Es gibt eine reichhaltige, in  Delphi integrierte und durch zahlreiche Dritthersteller verstärkte  Komponentenbibliothek mit der sich die unterschiedlichsten Probleme  lösen lassen.

Es gibt jedoch manchmal Situation, wo man als "nativer"  Delphi-Entwickler auf das .NET Framework schielt, weil dort eine noch  viel größere Klassenbibliothek – in großen Teilen sogar kostenlos – zur  Verfügung steht und ein anstehendes Problem dort bereits eine Lösung  hat. Deswegen das ganze Projekt nach .NET zu portieren (sei es nun  Dlephi.NET oder VisualStudio/C#/VB.NET) ist jedoch meist nicht  vertretbar – was also tun?

Interessanterweise gibt es Schnittstellen zwischen .NET und Win32  Anwendungen, die es erlauben, aus Win32 Anwendungen auf .NET Funktionen  zuzugreifen.

Die Standard-Schnittstelle ist hier COM/Interop, allerdings dürfte das  viele Entwickler eher abschrecken. Mit "Managed-VCL" und "Hydra"  existieren zwei 3rd Party Produkte, die gewohnt Delphi-komfortable  Schnittstellen zur Verfügung stellen. Diese Lösungen sind leistungsfähig  aber kostenpflichtig.

Als wenig bekannte Schnittstelle bietet sich zusätzlich "Reverse  P/Invoke" an, was für für C#/C++ Entwickler recht mühselig ist (und  daher vermutlich kaum verbreitet). Für Delphi User ist das jedoch extrem  simpel einsetzbar, da das notwendige "Brimborium" komplett vom  Delphi-Compiler versteckt wird.

Diese Session wird die drei genannten Alternative vorstellen und mit  praktischen Beispielen zeigen, wie man z.B. Winforms oder  .NET-Verschlüsselungsroutinen aus Delphi für Win32 nutzt.

Technically Atozed Software was a client of mine. I am runnning my own IT consulting business since 2004 and Atozed was one of my (bigger) clients since then.

After about 4 years of working with passion mainly on IntraWeb, which I still love and see as the best Web application framework for Delphi, I came to a point where technical innovation became more and more complicated with IntraWeb. Many new ideas were not easy to implement, as there are many road blocks because of historical reasons. A total rewrite would be a logical consequence, but that idea had no financially viable chance.

A while ago I got the offer to lead a totally new project. It was really a hard decision to take that offer and to discontinue my direct relationship with Atozed Software.

From August 1st, I’ll work on something new. It will be an exciting product and I’ll start blogging about this new project as soon as I have at least white papers and some early demos.

Don’t worry though!

My new project is still on Delphi, so I’m not going to leave the Delphi community.

I will continue to offer support and training for IntraWeb. If you need Delphi or IntraWeb assistance, on- or off-site, then just contact me.

I will cooperate with the IntraWeb Resource Center (IRC), which is a website offering support for Delphi Web application development. IRC is a place where you will find additional IntraWeb learning materials and information about IntraWeb support and training opportunities.

If you have a valid IntraWeb license and have support questions, then please see Atozed’s support options first. If you have specific support needs, which go beyond Atozed’s included options, then feel free to contact me or see the IntraWeb Resource Center. Individual support and training is available at hourly and daily rates.

Greg Keller just stated in a comment to Kim Madson’s recent blog, that Embarcadero will implement a CodeGear division in parallel to a DatabaseGear divison. I think this is great news. They already registered www.databasegear.com to complement www.codegear.com!

Thanks for clearing that up, Greg!