RAD Studio 12.2, released on September 12, 2024, has changed the development game again. How? With features never before seen in the IDE, like embedded access to AI-assisted coding, and with performance enhancements like 64-bit compilers that enable you, the developer, to build bigger, more complex applications without having to worry about compile time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what can you do with RAD Studio 12.2?

What You Can Do With RAD Studio 12.2

RAD Studio 12.2, Delphi 12.2 and C++Builder 12.2 are designed to enable users to build bigger, better, faster apps in less and less time.

All the product team’s efforts, the new features, quality enhancements and inclusion of user feedback and feature requests work together toward this singular goal.

Here’s a review of the most important new features and enhancements you can expect from the 12.2 release:

01 Use embedded access to LLMs for AI-assisted faster and better coding (Smart CodeInsight)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RAD Studio 12.2 introduces an open architecture for AI plugins, offering ready-to-use support for three online solutions (OpenAI, Gemini by Google, and Claude by Anthropic) and one offline solution (Ollama).

The RAD Studio AI support is called Smart CodeInsight and it’s based on an open architecture, powered by new interfaces in the IDE ToolsAPI. Smart CodeInsight also provides ready-to-use features like an AI chat window and an editor menu commands to invoke AI operations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about leveraging LLMs in the IDE, read this post by Marco Cantù.

02 Build much bigger apps, much faster with the 64-bit version of the DelphiLSP engine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you work with  large codebases, everything will get much easier with 12.2. The new release introduces a 64-bit version of the DelphiLSP engine that eliminates memory limits and provides smoother performance for large projects, enabling users to build extremely large applications as a single executable. 

The 64-bit version of the DelphiLSP engine is designed to handle massive projects without the memory constraints of the 32-bit engine. This is a game-changer for developers who know the frustrations associated with performance slowdowns or crashes with large applications.

The new compilers are currently available from the command line and from the IDE when using external compilation. They are only included as part of  the Enterprise and Architects editions, given the focus on customers with very large codebases. Notably, the new C++ Clang compiler has been a 64-bit binary since its release in RAD Studio 12.0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about the 64-bit version of the DelphiLSP engine, read this post by Nuno Castro.

03 Code much faster with Focus Mode and Scrollbar Annotations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RAD Studio 12.2 introduces Focus Mode, a productivity feature that leaves the IDE with just the editor(s), eliminating all distractions and enabling faster coding in a customizable IDE layout.

Meanwhile, the new scrollbar annotations show at a glance the sections of the code that have been modified, have bookmarks, have errors or warnings, and much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about Focus Mode and sidebar annotations, read this post by David Millington.

04 Supercharge web development with the WebStencils Template Engine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RAD Studio 12.2 introduces WebStencils, a server-side script-based integration and processing of HTML files, also known as a template engine. This and its component can be used in WebBroker and RAD Server, but also for DataSnap and even in non-Web applications to produce HTML, JSON, YAML, comma delimited files, or any other file to merge specific data. The application code can be written in Delphi or in C++.

WebStencils’ main goal is to significantly extend the existing web technologies in RAD Studio (WebBroker, DataSnap, RAD Server) by providing server-side scripting and turning RAD Server from a Web Service engine into a Web Site and Web Service tool. 

Users can create HTML pages with standard tools and adopt any CSS and JavaScript libraries while also retaining the ability to add data from the generated pages coming from the application. 

In addition, WebStencils can be a good foundation for HTMX as a solution for web development. The two technologies go nicely together. HTMX pages can benefit from server-side code generation and hook into REST servers regarding content updates. Delphi web technologies can offer page generation and REST APIs at a very high-quality level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about the WebStencils Template Engine, read this post by Marco Cantù.

More things you can do with RAD Studio 12.2

Supercharging Refactoring with Visual Assist in C++Builder

Dynamic Packages in C++Builder 12.2!

Faster Delphi RTL with Parallel Arrays and Ordered Dictionaries

For a complete list of all the new and enhanced features of RAD Studio 12.2, read this blog post.

 

Get RAD Studio 12.2