Borland Kylix

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Borland Kylix
Developer(s) Borland
Operating system Linux
Type IDE
Website www.borland.com/kylix/   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Borland Kylix is a compiler and integrated development environment (IDE) formerly sold by Borland, but later discontinued. It is a Linux software development environment based on Borland Delphi and Borland C++ Builder, which runs under Microsoft Windows. Continuing Delphi's classical Greek theme, Kylix is the name for an ancient Greek drinking cup. The closest supported equivalent to Kylix is the free Lazarus IDE package, designed to be code-compatible with Delphi. As of 2010 the project has been resurrected in the form of Delphi cross compiler for Mac and Linux, as shown in the Embarcadero's Delphi and C++ Builder roadmap. [1] As of September 2011 with Kylix discontinued the framework for cross-platform development by Embarcadero is FireMonkey. [2]

Contents

Features

Kylix supports application programming using Object Pascal and C++, and is particularly suited to the development of command line utilities and (especially) GUI applications, but not well suited to low-level programming, such as the development of device drivers or kernel modules.[ citation needed ]

Though it interacts poorly with many Linux window managers, the IDE is basically the Delphi 5 IDE running on top of Wine, with a fast native code compiler, and tools for code navigation, auto-completion, parameter-name tooltips, and so on. The debugger is capable, but very slow to load, and can crash the whole IDE.

Kylix features CLX, a Linux version of Borland's VCL [Visual Component Library], which is (mostly) a component-based control library, not unlike Visual Basic or .NET's WinForms. Like other component-oriented libraries, CLX contains both visual components (such as buttons and panels) and non-visual components (such as timers). The IDE makes it easy to select components and place them on a form, editing properties and event handlers with an "Object Inspector".

Delphi's VCL is an object-oriented wrapper over raw Win32 controls, that maps Win32 messages and APIs to properties and events and is thus significantly easier to use than the raw API. As such, VCL is tightly bound to Windows, and Kylix's CLX is built on top of Trolltech's Qt library. CLX is not 100% compatible with VCL, and most Delphi programs require some effort to port to Kylix, even if they stick to the Borland libraries and avoid any direct OS calls. However, Qt is a portable library and, starting with Delphi 6, Borland provided CLX on Windows as well, providing a measure of back-portability.

History

On September 28, 1999, Inprise Corporation announced its development of a high performance Linux application development environment that will support C, C++, and Delphi development, code named "Kylix", with release date set for year 2000. [3]

On March 24, 2000, Inprise/Borland Corporation hosted more than 200 third-party authors, consultants, trainers and tool and component vendors for the first in a series of worldwide events designed to prepare third party products and services for Kylix. [4]

On March 7, 2001, Borland Software Corporation announced the release of Borland Kylix, [5] after it had been offered to U.S. customers of Dell Precision 220, 420 and 620 Workstations beginning in February 2001. [6]

On October 23, 2001, Borland Software Corporation announced the release of Borland Kylix 2. [7]

On August 13, 2002 Borland Software Corporation announced the release of Borland Kylix 3. [8]

In 2005, Borland reportedly moved to discontinue Kylix development. [9]

Danny Thorpe seems to have been largely responsible for getting Borland to fund a Linux version of Delphi, and he did a lot of the work necessary to make the Delphi compiler produce Linux executables.[ citation needed ] While both Delphi and Kylix run on 32-bit Intel processors, Linux uses different register conventions than Windows and, of course, the executable and library file formats are different; see DLL, EXE, ELF for details.

Legacy

In 2009 Embarcadero posted the current Delphi and C++ Builder roadmap. As part of project Delphi "X" cross compilation for Mac and Linux was planned.

Embarcadero is planning to release a new version of Kylix (without backward compatibility), but it will not hold a special name (Kylix). It will be a part of Delphi (and C++Builder) where one can code and compile in Delphi Windows IDE and deploy to Linux. C++Builder version will be also available.

This roadmap item remained a couple versions on the roadmap as point for "future versions" but disappeared from roadmaps in the XE3-4 timeframe. Parts of project X went in production with XE2 and 3 though, but for mobile targets and OS X.

In 8 Feb 2016, Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. announced an updated roadmap that indicates Linux server support in upcoming RAD Studio 10.2 (code name "Godzilla") development track, aka the Fall release. Linux desktop support was not mentioned. [10] On March 22, 2017, Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. announced the release of RAD Studio 10.2. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

Borland Software Corporation was a computing technology company founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad, and Philippe Kahn. Its main business was developing and selling software development and software deployment products. Borland was first headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, then in Cupertino, California, and then in Austin, Texas. In 2009, the company became a full subsidiary of the British firm Micro Focus International plc. In 2023, Micro Focus was acquired by Canadian firm OpenText, which later absorbed Borland's portfolio into its application delivery management division.

Pascal is an imperative and procedural programming language, designed by Niklaus Wirth as a small, efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring. It is named after French mathematician, philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal.

C++Builder is a rapid application development (RAD) environment for developing software in the C++ programming language. Originally developed by Borland, as of 2009 it is owned by Embarcadero Technologies, a subsidiary of Idera. C++Builder can compile apps for Windows, iOS, macOS, and Android. It includes tools that allow drag-and-drop visual development, making programming easier by incorporating a WYSIWYG graphical user interface builder.

The Visual Component Library (VCL) is a visual component-based object-oriented framework for developing the user interface of Microsoft Windows applications. It is written in Object Pascal.

Component Library for Cross Platform (CLX), is a cross-platform visual component-based framework for developing Microsoft Windows and Linux applications. It was developed by Borland for use in its Kylix, Delphi, and C++ Builder software development environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delphi (software)</span> General-purpose programming language and a software product

Delphi is a general-purpose programming language and a software product that uses the Delphi dialect of the Object Pascal programming language and provides an integrated development environment (IDE) for rapid application development of desktop, mobile, web, and console software, currently developed and maintained by Embarcadero Technologies.

The Object Windows Library (OWL) is a C++ object-oriented application framework designed to simplify desktop application development for Windows and OS/2.

Object Pascal is an extension to the programming language Pascal that provides object-oriented programming (OOP) features such as classes and methods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Pascal</span> Free compiler and IDE for Pascal and ObjectPascal

Free Pascal Compiler (FPC) is a compiler for the closely related programming-language dialects Pascal and Object Pascal. It is free software released under the GNU General Public License, with exception clauses that allow static linking against its runtime libraries and packages for any purpose in combination with any other software license.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lazarus (software)</span> Free cross-platform integrated development environment for Free Pascal

Lazarus is a cross-platform, integrated development environment (IDE) for rapid application development (RAD) using the Free Pascal compiler. Its goal is to provide an easy-to-use development environment for developing with the Object Pascal language, which is as close as possible to Delphi. It is free and open-source software with different parts released under different software licenses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbo C++</span> Compiler and IDE from Borland

Turbo C++ is a discontinued C++ compiler and integrated development environment originally from Borland. It was designed as a home and hobbyist counterpart for Borland C++. As the developer focused more on professional programming tools, later Turbo C++ products were made as scaled down versions of its professional compilers.

Danny Thorpe was an American programmer noted mainly for his work on Delphi.

Borland C++ was a C and C++ IDE released by Borland for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. It was the successor to Turbo C++ and included a better debugger, the Turbo Debugger, which was written in protected mode DOS.

Turbo Delphi is a discontinued integrated development environment (IDE), created by CodeGear, for student, amateur, individual professionals, and hobbyist programmers. It used the programming language Delphi, which is a dialect of Object Pascal.

CodeGear is a wholly owned division of Embarcadero Technologies. CodeGear develops software development tools such as the Delphi Integrated development environment, the programming language Delphi, and the database server InterBase. Originally a division of Borland Software Corporation, it was launched on 14 November 2006.

Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. is an American computer software company that develops, manufactures, licenses and supports products and services related to software through several product divisions. It was founded in 1993, went public in 2000 and private in 2007, and became a division of Idera, Inc. in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teechart</span>

TeeChart is a charting library for programmers, developed and managed by Steema Software of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is available as commercial and non-commercial software. TeeChart has been included in most Delphi and C++Builder products since 1997, and TeeChart Standard currently is part of Embarcadero RAD Studio 12 Athens. TeeChart Pro version is a commercial product that offers shareware releases for all of its formats, TeeChart. Lite for .NET is a free charting component for the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET community and TeeChart for PHP is an open-source library for PHP environments. The TeeChart Charting Library offers charts, maps and gauges in versions for Delphi VCL/FMX, ActiveX, C# for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, Java and PHP. Full source code has always been available for all versions except the ActiveX version. TeeChart's user interface is translated into 38 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FireMonkey</span>

FireMonkey is a cross-platform GUI framework developed by Embarcadero Technologies for use in Delphi, C++Builder or Python, using Object Pascal, C++ or Python to build cross platform applications for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. A 3rd party library, FMX Linux, enables the building of FireMonkey applications on Linux.

This page details the history of the programming language and software product Delphi.

References

  1. ↑ "RAD Studio, Delphi and C++Builder Roadmap". Archived from the original on 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  2. ↑ "FireMonkey Q&A".
  3. ↑ Inprise Announces Commitment to Support C, C++ and Delphi Development on Linux — Project Kylix to Deliver Rapid Application Development for Linux Operating System
  4. ↑ Inprise/Borland'S Kylix Project Builds Strong Third Party Network for Linux — First Event Attracts More Than 200 Authors, Consultants, Trainers and Tool and Component Vendors
  5. ↑ Borland® Kylix™ Now Available — Borland Speeds Linux® Development Into The Mainstream With Kylix™
  6. ↑ Dell Precision Workstations to Ship With Borland® Kylix™ for Linux Developers
  7. ↑ Borland® Kylix™ 2 Delivers First Web Services Solution for Linux® - Borland Provides Cross-Platform Development to Create and Deploy Applications to the Internet
  8. ↑ Borland® Kylix™3 Now Shipping - Borland® Kylix™ 3 Delivers Rapid C++ Development to Linux® Developers Worldwide
  9. ↑ E. Matias , R. Berg , T. Johnson , R. Tanner , T. Wilson , G. Wright , H. Zhang (2005). Canadian Light Source : A Fully Open Source Control System. Proceedings of 2005 Particle Accelerator Conference, Knoxville, Tennessee. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.883.8601 . Due to recent moves to discontinue the Borland Kylix development environment CLS is examining alternative compilers for freeTDS based applications.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ Embarcadero RAD Studio 2016 Product Approach and Roadmap
  11. ↑ RAD Studio 10.2 Opens Up Linux Deployment and Multi-tenancy Support for RAD Server
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