Delphi: Upgrade 2009 to XE?

Question

Should I upgrade from Delphi 2009 to delphi XE?

As I don't use all the technologies, such as mobile, cloud computing, profiling, 64 bit, new database drivers, I don't need to change to the new XE?

What would change my mind?

Does the new Delphi IDE help me to write less code? Is the package management better?

Do you feel that the IDE gives more automation? And is it worth the upgrade?

Answer 1

The Help has been improved a great deal in XE - in 2010 it was a (bad) joke.

'Show in Explorer' is also great, although not enough reason to lay out that much money.

Also much better support for REST, JSON etc.

And XE just feels very mature and stable - I don't work for Embarcadero, but I use XE every day, as much as possible - unfortunately I am currently working on a project that uses components compiled for Delphi 5 without source code so I can't use XE for everything.

There are some VS guys in my shop who think 'Delphi is Dead' and give me some grief - I am proving them wrong with XE...

Answer 2

I think it's worth it...

• Many bug fixes - they have focused alot on closing out issues. You cannot discount this...you'll never get any more fixes in your current version and the time saved by not having to work around just a single bug or two certainly pays for the upgrade cost if your time is valuable.
• SVN integration is handy.
• "Show In Explorer" from the project manager. (I don't know if it's just me, but I use this alot and it saves me time.)
• If you like code formatters, there's a new option to format all sources in the project.
• Debugger visualizers are kinda cool
• Third Party Tools included: somewhat crippled, but very usable versions of: AQTime, Beyond Compare, CodeSite, IPWorks, Finalbuilder (depending on Pro/Enterprise)
• Online help updated quite a bit

Can it help you write less code? Yes, as you can now rely on generics more due to many fixes from 2009, 2010 and XE. There's also some additional live templates added if that's what you are after.

What would change your mind? I'd say the bug fixes, additional Third party tools, and Online Help improvements make it a no-contest upgrade for the Pro edition. If you are going for Enterprise upgrade, and not using dbExpress, or other enterprise features, then it might be a little less convincing of an update depending on your budget.

Answer 3

I use Delphi XE all day every day, and I wouldn't use anything else.

It is the most stable version of the IDE that I have ever used. The compiler has had a huge amount of attention paid to it, and it works, and doesn't have the many internal failures, internal access violations, or other ways that compilers fall down, that every Delphi release since Delphi 2005 has. So the main feature that makes Delphi XE the best version ever is stability. It is even more stable than my old standby - Delphi 7. And delphi 7 is pretty stable, but working all day in Delphi 7, I did experience regular crashes, something that is finally a thing of the past, with Delphi XE. Okay, I've crashed XE's IDE a couple times, but it's rare.

The second reason is that it comes with great tools; A version of final builder, a version of CodeSite, and a version of AQTime are included. CodeSite was new to me with XE, but I love it, and now that I have used it I couldn't live without it. AQTime is an old friend of mine, and the version included with XE does most of the things that the full standalone AQTime will do, that I need it to do. The final builder version included, is also a huge time saver, especially if you have complex builds to do, including several Delphi application compiles, and an installer script to run, and perhaps other steps.

I like the code-formatter. I am not a big fan of Generics, but you can use them now, and they don't kill the compiler. I still prefer simple readable code, to a morass of generics, and I don't like the way that you do constraints with generics using IUnknown-style reference counted interfaces. Not nice, and not fun.

I don't use much of the database, cloud, or multi-tier application development features. I can't report on that aspect, but I do know that there's a lot more in the RAD XE product than any single developer, however intrepid, can probably even discover.

(Ethical Disclosure Footnote; I work for embarcadero. But even if I didn't, I'd still say everything above. Perhaps, I'd state it even more strongly.)

Answer 4

Besides the generics improvements, there are new features in the IDE. The addition of a code formatter, IDE Insight improvements to help you find things, integration of SVN, the reworking of the configuration manager, custom build tools, form designer changes, and more. There's also a bunch of new stuff in RTTI.

See this page for a list of what's new in XE, and go up a level from there to see a listing of what's changed specifically from 2009 to XE.

Answer 5

In addition to what David said, there also is the new RTTI in Delphi XE which might make the upgrade worthwhile.

Answer 6

Does the new Delphi IDE help me to write less code? Is the package management better? Do you feel that the IDE gives more automation?

No real changes there I think.

The area with possibly the most noticeable differences is generics. If you use generics at all then you should upgrade. The versions that followed 2009 have far fewer bugs and wrinkles in the implementation of generics.