Borland drinks from the Linux cup
Borland offers details of Kylix, its version of Delphi
for Linux.
It began with the Borland on-line Linux
survey during the summer, in which over 10,000 programmers
asked for a Linux version of Delphi. The next step was
Borland's demonstration of a C++ command-line compiler at the
Borland conference in Philadelphia -- important from
the Delphi perspective because the two compilers share the
same code generator. Then came the official announcement: a new Linux development
environment from the company, codenamed Kylix.
Some technical details of the architecture of Kylix --
which might change before the product is actually released --
were unveiled in a recent live Delphi chat. An edited version of the chat is available
on-line.
A number of Delphi programmers had asked Borland to port
the development environment to Linux. And the fact that
Borland is listening is a good sign. There is another
interesting angle, though, to the evolution of Kylix: how will
this new Delphi affect the Windows version?
What's good for one platform...
Kylix should be a visual environment supporting both Object
Pascal and C++ at the same time. Many programmers have asked
for a merge of Delphi and C++Builder, and if this happens on
the Linux platform, it might take place on the Windows
platform as well.
The code compatibility between the Linux and Windows
versions of Delphi will be at the VCL level, not at the API
level. Instead of trying to use one of the Windows API mapping
layers being implemented for Linux, Borland is trying to build
a Linux version of the VCL that will be partially compatible
with the Windows VCL.
Although the architecture of Kylix has not yet been
finalized, there will certainly be components available for
Windows only, Linux only, and both versions, according to
members of the Kylix research and development team. The Linux
VCL will be a subset of the Windows VCL, which will enable a
programmer to target this smaller VCL to obtain good
compatibility between the two platforms. The result will be a
lightweight VCL that a Windows programmer might opt to use to
produce simple utilities with smaller executable files. Chuck
Jazdzewski, Delphi's Chief Scientist, said, "We do consider it
a high priority goal to allow the porting of VCL components
with a minimum of changes. Obviously, avoiding making direct
Win32 calls will make porting much easier."
Of course Borland's primary concern is supporting Linux as
a server-side environment, thus allowing programmers to port
WebBroker CGI programs, MIDAS application servers, and the new
Internet Express technology to Linux Web servers. Borland
originally considered targeting the Java byte code as a way of
letting Delphi programmers move at least server-side
applications to non-Windows Web servers. After many
tribulations, that project was abandoned in favor of this VCL
approach.
Delphi's database architecture is certainly not limited to
the BDE. You can use Delphi 5's ADO and InterBase
direct support, as well as many third-party custom dataset
components. R&D team members have mentioned support of
InterBase -- already available on the Linux platform -- and MySQL. However, as
no generic database engine is available on Linux, Borland is
apparently also going to write a new small database engine
(described both as "a new data-access layer, independent from
the BDE" and "a complete BDE replacement"). Again, the result
of these efforts might become available on the Windows
platform as well.
Warnings and hopes
The last time I remember a port of a Borland tool to a new
major OS was in the C++ for OS/2 days. While developing for
that platform, the company shifted its focus away from the
Windows product, which was the market leader at the time. When
the OS/2 product was complete, the OS was already dying away
and Microsoft's Visual C++ had become the best-seller on
the Windows platform. I really hope that this time Borland
continues the development of the Windows versions at full
speed while working on the Linux port. Of course, Borland is
also gambling on Linux's growth, a strategy championed and
pushed by Inprise CEO Dale Fuller. Apparently he's able to use
Microsoft's money to promote Linux tools -- certainly an
interesting arrangement.
I also hope that as Borland enters the Linux world (and
Linux spirit), the company will provide at least a free
cut-down version of Kylix. It should be freely available for
universities and for open-source, non-commercial development,
and possibly also bundled in some of the major Linux
distributions. I wonder if something along these lines is
planned for the future Corel distribution of Linux; the two
companies formed a strategic alliance that "will also include a
seeding strategy wherein Linux products from both companies
will be jointly marketed and distributed," the announcement
read.
When Borland was collapsing four years ago, Delphi saved
it. Let's hope that Delphi for Linux pushes the Scott's Valley
folks to new heights. I have to go now, I've got a spare
computer to install Linux on.
Originally written for InPublishing LLC for publication by Inprise Corp. Copyright 1999 Inprise Corp.
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