Comments for Sip from the Firehose http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi David Intersimone (David I) CodeGear blog about programming, languages, history, and more. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:50:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 Comment on Memories of Turbo Pascal version 1.0 - Wayne Williams, United States by Gerry http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2008/11/07/39018#comment-18189 Gerry Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:25:20 +0000 http://blogs.codegear.com/davidi/?p=39018#comment-18189 There's a Blacks Photography here in Nova Scotia. They're running IBM terminals. The software looked pretty plain compared to what can be produced with today's tools. Wayne, you wouldn't happen to have a link to a screen shot of the POS software you created, would you? There’s a Blacks Photography here in Nova Scotia. They’re running IBM terminals. The software looked pretty plain compared to what can be produced with today’s tools. Wayne, you wouldn’t happen to have a link to a screen shot of the POS software you created, would you?

]]> Comment on Evaluating the Total Cost of Software Tools… by Kent Morwath http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/26/39703#comment-18171 Kent Morwath Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:06:30 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39703#comment-18171 "slow development": Unicode was introduced only in 2009, 64 bits are yet to come (and let's not speak about Windows Mobile) . Delphi is now light years behind competition - you can't sell it as the "best tool for native development" and support only one third of Windows platforms. Even VCL is getting old... "IDE instability": we went through D2005, D2006 and now D2007 which only today crashed three times, once coding and two debugging - with a "Danger" dialog box I never saw before. And I can't understand why it thinks half of plain records in a file are classes. No, we're not using D2009 yet because we can't go Unicode yet - porting has been planned but will take time - I do not blame the "only unicode" choice, just we can't upgrade now - and we have still to decide with what we'll go Unicode, especially if 64 bit is delayed again. And, yes, thanks to Mr. LaRiche for developing a good MM, if we were waiting for Borland/Codegear/Embarcadero, we would still hunt leaks with "writeln"s (or AQTime). "Never fixed bugs": we're using Delphi since Delphi 1 and there are lot of default libraries we got rid of because of long standing bugs, and we are really tired to shell out more money on upgrades just to get fixes, we want to buy upgrades for the value of the new features, not bug fixes. QC is there, we have reported bugs, voted, commented... since Delphi 6. Some are still "reported". One day we decided it wasn't worth our time. "Half baked libraries": both. Once we used 75% default components and 25% third party ones, now that percentage is reversed. Also, even for basic tasks like TCP/IP communication Delphi relies on a third party library with an "unmanaged" development cycle - i.e. breaking interfaces whenever they like. "Very poor help": don't know about D2009, but searching something in D2007 help is a nightmare, especially advanced topics - they are now buried somewhere and finding them is a treasure hunt. "Lack of printed documentation": given the poor help, the disappeared manuals are even more important. Very difficult to train new developers with such a horrible help. Cantu's ebooks are not "official documentation", and I do not know how much insight he has - and when we have to use BASM we need specs. I always found the Language Guide a very valuable tool especially when working at a very low level, when even bits are important. Also a "User guide" explaining frameworks architecture (i.e. VCL, DataSnap, dbExpress, etc.) is very helpful when a developer never used them before. I understand a library reference is almost impossible to write nowadays, the one in D3 was huge enough and not very helpful. But once they were included in the price, now we get less for more - Delphi is pricey... "slow development": Unicode was introduced only in 2009, 64 bits are yet to come (and let’s not speak about Windows Mobile) . Delphi is now light years behind competition - you can’t sell it as the "best tool for native development" and support only one third of Windows platforms. Even VCL is getting old…
"IDE instability": we went through D2005, D2006 and now D2007 which only today crashed three times, once coding and two debugging - with a "Danger" dialog box I never saw before. And I can’t understand why it thinks half of plain records in a file are classes.
No, we’re not using D2009 yet because we can’t go Unicode yet - porting has been planned but will take time - I do not blame the "only unicode" choice, just we can’t upgrade now - and we have still to decide with what we’ll go Unicode, especially if 64 bit is delayed again.
And, yes, thanks to Mr. LaRiche for developing a good MM, if we were waiting for Borland/Codegear/Embarcadero, we would still hunt leaks with "writeln"s (or AQTime).
"Never fixed bugs": we’re using Delphi since Delphi 1 and there are lot of default libraries we got rid of because of long standing bugs, and we are really tired to shell out more money on upgrades just to get fixes, we want to buy upgrades for the value of the new features, not bug fixes. QC is there, we have reported bugs, voted, commented… since Delphi 6. Some are still "reported". One day we decided it wasn’t worth our time.
"Half baked libraries": both. Once we used 75% default components and 25% third party ones, now that percentage is reversed. Also, even for basic tasks like TCP/IP communication Delphi relies on a third party library with an "unmanaged" development cycle - i.e. breaking interfaces whenever they like.
"Very poor help": don’t know about D2009, but searching something in D2007 help is a nightmare, especially advanced topics - they are now buried somewhere and finding them is a treasure hunt.
"Lack of printed documentation": given the poor help, the disappeared manuals are even more important. Very difficult to train new developers with such a horrible help.
Cantu’s ebooks are not "official documentation", and I do not know how much insight he has - and when we have to use BASM we need specs. I always found the Language Guide a very valuable tool especially when working at a very low level, when even bits are important. Also a "User guide" explaining frameworks architecture (i.e. VCL, DataSnap, dbExpress, etc.) is very helpful when a developer never used them before.
I understand a library reference is almost impossible to write nowadays, the one in D3 was huge enough and not very helpful. But once they were included in the price, now we get less for more - Delphi is pricey…

]]> Comment on Some of the developer/technology feeds I follow… by David Intersimone http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/30/39709#comment-18164 David Intersimone Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:30:07 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39709#comment-18164 Does anyone use any of the following feeds: Ars Technica - All Ars Technica Content - http://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/everything?format=xml Mashable! - http://feeds.feedburner.com/Mashable?format=xml TechCrunch - http://feedproxy.google.com/TechCrunch Engadget - http://www.engadget.com/rss.xml The Official Google Blog - http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/MKuf?format=xml CrunchGear - http://feedproxy.google.com/CrunchGear Does anyone use any of the following feeds:

Ars Technica - All Ars Technica Content - http://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/everything?format=xml

Mashable! - http://feeds.feedburner.com/Mashable?format=xml

TechCrunch - http://feedproxy.google.com/TechCrunch

Engadget - http://www.engadget.com/rss.xml

The Official Google Blog - http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/MKuf?format=xml

CrunchGear - http://feedproxy.google.com/CrunchGear

]]> Comment on Evaluating the Total Cost of Software Tools… by David Intersimone http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/26/39703#comment-18163 David Intersimone Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:26:54 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39703#comment-18163 Kent - thank you for the comment to my blog post. If you have the time, I want to dig a little further to the things you mention. (this note was also sent to Kent via email) Which version of Delphi are you using? I am hoping to understand specifics from you for the items you listed, but I will admit that perception is reality and we still have to do more to improve Delphi. You specifically mentioned: "slow development" - do you mean on our part in product development, or slow development by users because of issues/features in Delphi? "IDE instability" - are you using Delphi 2009? We've received more compliments on stability and speed since we moved to the FastMM memory manager in Delphi 2007 and the profiling and improvements work that has been done in 2007 and 2009. That doesn't mean that we are done - we still have more to do - especially with your help. "Never fixed bugs" - are there specific bug items in QC that you are referring to or is this a general perception? I know for sure that we have fixed thousands of bugs in the past few versions but yes, there are still more to be done in all software shipped by our industry. "Half baked libraries" - RTL or VCL? Or are you referring to 3rd party libraries we bundle in like TChart, Indy, VCL for the Web (IntraWeb), Rave Reports? Hard to know what you mean by half baked unless you are more specific. "Very poor online help" - more work to be done for sure. In Delphi 2007 and 2009 work has been completed to find help wherever you hit F1. In this area do you have specifics like missing examples, F1 does not work in some instances? "Lack of printed documentation" - most of our customers prefer online help and not printed documents. We have had promotions to give you eBooks by Bob Swart and Marco Cantu. You can also download the PDF for help files from our docs.embarcadero.com site, http://docs.embarcadero.com/products/rad_studio/, and then use print on demand systems to get printed copies of manuals. For printed documentation do you want a) user guide, b) language reference, c) library reference? Here are a few more factoids and items from our team regarding bug process and fix: Since 1/1/09, 442 bugs (non feature requests) have been addressed by the team of reports older than 1/1/08. (IE – found earlier then Jan 1, 2008). Of those, 179 are QC reports. Kent - thank you for the comment to my blog post. If you have the time, I want to dig a little further to the things you mention. (this note was also sent to Kent via email)

Which version of Delphi are you using? I am hoping to understand specifics from you for the items you listed, but I will admit that perception is reality and we still have to do more to improve Delphi.

You specifically mentioned:

"slow development" - do you mean on our part in product development, or slow development by users because of issues/features in Delphi?

"IDE instability" - are you using Delphi 2009? We’ve received more compliments on stability and speed since we moved to the FastMM memory manager in Delphi 2007 and the profiling and improvements work that has been done in 2007 and 2009. That doesn’t mean that we are done - we still have more to do - especially with your help.

"Never fixed bugs" - are there specific bug items in QC that you are referring to or is this a general perception? I know for sure that we have fixed thousands of bugs in the past few versions but yes, there are still more to be done in all software shipped by our industry.

"Half baked libraries" - RTL or VCL? Or are you referring to 3rd party libraries we bundle in like TChart, Indy, VCL for the Web (IntraWeb), Rave Reports? Hard to know what you mean by half baked unless you are more specific.

"Very poor online help" - more work to be done for sure. In Delphi 2007 and 2009 work has been completed to find help wherever you hit F1. In this area do you have specifics like missing examples, F1 does not work in some instances?

"Lack of printed documentation" - most of our customers prefer online help and not printed documents. We have had promotions to give you eBooks by Bob Swart and Marco Cantu. You can also download the PDF for help files from our docs.embarcadero.com site, http://docs.embarcadero.com/products/rad_studio/, and then use print on demand systems to get printed copies of manuals. For printed documentation do you want a) user guide, b) language reference, c) library reference?

Here are a few more factoids and items from our team regarding bug process and fix:

Since 1/1/09, 442 bugs (non feature requests) have been addressed by the team of reports older than 1/1/08. (IE – found earlier then Jan 1, 2008). Of those, 179 are QC reports.

]]> Comment on Evaluating the Total Cost of Software Tools… by Kent Morwath http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/26/39703#comment-18162 Kent Morwath Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:48:48 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39703#comment-18162 How “hidden” costs : hidden cost includes time wasted because of slow development, IDE instability, never fixed bugs, half baked libraries, very poor online help, lack of printed documentation. And in all of these categories Delphi topped the list in the past years. And it looks we'll have to wait more for a Windows 64 compiler and library. Good work, you can sell all of your stuff to us for $1, but as long as critical features are missing it's just wasted money. How “hidden” costs : hidden cost includes time wasted because of slow development, IDE instability, never fixed bugs, half baked libraries, very poor online help, lack of printed documentation. And in all of these categories Delphi topped the list in the past years.
And it looks we’ll have to wait more for a Windows 64 compiler and library. Good work, you can sell all of your stuff to us for $1, but as long as critical features are missing it’s just wasted money.

]]> Comment on Some of the developer/technology feeds I follow… by m. Th. http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/30/39709#comment-18153 m. Th. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:50:18 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39709#comment-18153 Artima Developer Spotlight http://www.artima.com/spotlight/feeds/spotlight.rss Coding Horror http://feeds.feedburner.com/codinghorror Hacker News http://news.ycombinator.com/rss Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog http://feeds.feedburner.com/roughtype/unGc Artima Developer Spotlight
http://www.artima.com/spotlight/feeds/spotlight.rss

Coding Horror
http://feeds.feedburner.com/codinghorror

Hacker News
http://news.ycombinator.com/rss

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr’s Blog
http://feeds.feedburner.com/roughtype/unGc

]]> Comment on Some of the developer/technology feeds I follow… by Jamie http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/30/39709#comment-18116 Jamie Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:45:23 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39709#comment-18116 Feeds can sometimes feel like you're being drowned in information, particularly when you read postings like this one giving a list of the top 200 blogs for Developers: http://www.noop.nl/2009/06/top-200-blogs-for-developers-q2-2009.html Luckily, if you use a good tool like FeedDemon (Built with Delphi) or Google Reader and take a skim approach before hitting the panic button in FD or simply marking everything read then you've gotten all you need out of them. Feeds can sometimes feel like you’re being drowned in information, particularly when you read postings like this one giving a list of the top 200 blogs for Developers:
http://www.noop.nl/2009/06/top-200-blogs-for-developers-q2-2009.html

Luckily, if you use a good tool like FeedDemon (Built with Delphi) or Google Reader and take a skim approach before hitting the panic button in FD or simply marking everything read then you’ve gotten all you need out of them.

]]> Comment on Some of the developer/technology feeds I follow… by Moritz Beutel http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/30/39709#comment-18115 Moritz Beutel Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:28:31 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39709#comment-18115 http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/ http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/

]]> Comment on Evaluating the Total Cost of Software Tools… by David Intersimone http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/26/39703#comment-17994 David Intersimone Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:55:31 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39703#comment-17994 Fromt he PDF - "The framework for this model is based on a study from Gartner Inc. conducted in 2008, entitled “TCO of Traditional Software Distribution vs. Application Virtualization”. This study compares the cost of traditional software ownership to the cost of application-virtualized software, which is the technique used by Embarcadero to provide the InstantOn feature. The specific cost categories were taken as is, but condensed (from 22 to 15) by grouping related areas and by omitting categories with a zero cost factor. Also, because this paper focuses on application & database tools specifically (the Gartner model includes all software types), the absolute figures in the model must necessarily differ. The Gartner model denotes a certain relationship between the various costs, and these relationships were preserved. In the report, Gartner models three types of organizational modes of operation: unmanaged, moderately managed, and locked & well managed. Here we used the “moderately managed” model as the basis." Fromt he PDF - "The framework for this model is based on a study from Gartner Inc. conducted in 2008, entitled “TCO of
Traditional Software Distribution vs. Application Virtualization”. This study compares the cost of traditional
software ownership to the cost of application-virtualized software, which is the technique used by Embarcadero
to provide the InstantOn feature. The specific cost categories were taken as is, but condensed (from 22 to 15)
by grouping related areas and by omitting categories with a zero cost factor. Also, because this paper focuses
on application & database tools specifically (the Gartner model includes all software types), the absolute
figures in the model must necessarily differ. The Gartner model denotes a certain relationship between
the various costs, and these relationships were preserved. In the report, Gartner models three types of
organizational modes of operation: unmanaged, moderately managed, and locked & well managed. Here we
used the “moderately managed” model as the basis."

]]> Comment on Evaluating the Total Cost of Software Tools… by Ken Knopfli http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/2009/06/26/39703#comment-17955 Ken Knopfli Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:33:20 +0000 http://blogs.embarcadero.com/davidi/?p=39703#comment-17955 Advertisements that I have to register first to read! Advertisements that I have to register first to read!

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