ate both in-process and out-of-process servers. A 32-bit Delphi application
can then control OLE applications.
Delphi automatically creates an object wrapper when you install an OCX, providing an object-oriented view of that control. This gives the programmer the ability to use existing third-party OCXes as well as the ability to customize OCXes through inheritance.
Developers looking to fully exploit 32-bit environments such as Windows 95 and Windows NT will appreciate Delphi's support for multithreading and its 32-bit flat address space. Arrays, strings, records, and other data structures can now be up to 2 GB in size.
However, Delphi's most significant advantage over other environments, particularly Visual Basic, is its 32-bit optimizing native code compiler that capitalizes on the expertise developed for Borland's C++ compiler. Compiling offers developers some performance enhancements, including smaller EXE files, faster performance in code-bound applications, and the ability to share code using a common OBJ format.
Borland's advertising
trumpets the fact that Delphi programs are compiled, while Visual Basic programs are simply interpreted p-code. Speed, says Lance Devin, who is the senior product manager for Delphi, is a critical advantage of Delphi. "In client/server applications," he notes, "people have an expectation that going to or from a server should be as fast as access on a local machine."
Christopher Flores, who is the director of technical marketing for Visual Basic, dismisses that claim. "Borland emphasizes compilation," he observes. "We say that [interpreting code] is not a bottleneck in client/server program operation."
Performance is an issue when you use these tools to develop enterprise and mission-critical applications. Delphi 2.0's compiler architecture offers easy access to important system features, such as multithreading, a flat-memory model, and OLE automation and controls. These features give developers a new way to maximize their development possibilities in such environments as Windows 95 and Windows NT.
screen_link (71 Kbytes)
Delphi 2.0 supports OLE custom controls (OCXes) and 32-bit applications for Windows 95 and Windows NT.
Delphi 2.0: Visual, Fast, and Now 32-bit
