March 06, 2001, 8:41 AM — Dedicated in-house developers have always found ways to build business applications for multiple platforms, but it's rarely easy to do. Java managed to capture the minds of corporate programmers by providing a nearly effortless bridge between supported platforms.
Kylix, the Linux edition of Borland's popular Delphi language and programming environment, will soon offer companies an alternative to Java that is far easier to learn and produces faster applications.
Like Java, Kylix provides Linux developers with well-stocked libraries of user interface, database, Web, and network functions that exactly match those implemented in Windows. Kylix also shares Java's large pool of experienced programmers, appealing to coders familiar with Delphi, C/C++, and Visual Basic.
Borland has infused Kylix with advantageous features that standard Java lacks, namely an optimizing native code compiler and a RAD (rapid application development) environment. After working with the Field Test 4 preview of Kylix Server Developer Edition, we see enormous technical potential that will endear Kylix to Delphi developers and Linux pundits
Commercially, Kylix faces challenges on both platforms. Delphi developers must make substantial changes to render their Delphi code portable. Linux users, most of whom are already writing code in C++, Java, and Perl, will need coaxing to learn a new language and libraries used only by Kylix. Still, resisting the nimble and powerful Kylix development environment, the first of its kind in Linux, will be difficult for either group.
Back to basics
Kylix and Delphi grew out of Borland's Turbo Pascal, a lightning-fast compiler and comprehensive IDE (integrated development environment) that turns any Windows user into an entry-level Windows programmer overnight.
For those working on projects in C++ or Java, Pascal might seem comically antiquated. But Pascal deserves respect because it combines the expressiveness and structure of C with the ease and safety of Basic and because Borland has worked such magic with this well-traveled language.
Delphi programmers deftly interweave Object Pascal, Intel assembly language, Microsoft's Win32 API, and Borland's Delphi Visual Component Library (VCL) to create their applications.
The debut release of Kylix carries much of Delphi's flexibility and freedom to Linux. Direct access to the Win32 API is obviously not permitted. The VCL is replaced by CLX, Borland's new component library for cross-platform development.
CLX components are mostly user interface elements. Other CLX features include direct database support for IBM's DB2, Oracle, the open-source MySQL, and Borland's own InterBase. Borland also bundles MyBase, an in-memory XML database.
