Embarcadero[R] RAD Studio 2010.

Embarcadero has announced the new version of its Windows development environment RAD Studio 2010 with several new features.

There continues to be three major elements to RAD Studio: Delphi, C++Builder, and Delphi Prism. With RAD development of Windows applications, each of these elements brings a different language to the platform. This includes the entire stable of Windows operating systems, including older Windows 2000, continued support for XP and Vista as well as the introduction of early support for Windows 7 RC.

With Delphi and C++Builder sharing the same IDE framework, they have a great deal in common, including a focus on usability and speed. With 2010, IDE usability takes a further leap forward with 'IDE Insight'; this allows developers to make a single keystroke then use an incremental keyboard search for any feature or function in the IDE. Once an item has been found--whether it is a component, a wizard or something as complex as a new project--it can be simply executed by hitting Enter.

IDE Insight helps in three ways. Firstly, personal productivity, through saving developer time and effort. Secondly, it provides a very natural way to introduce new ways of doing things within the IDE and get more from the product. Thirdly, should the developer extend the IDE with new components and wizards, IDE Insight will automatically make them available. Another important area to developers and application users is speed. Over the past few versions, Delphi and C++Builder have been getting faster with optimisations that have provided increases in the region of 5x. Speed and optimisation continues with the 2010 version, with the introduction of background compiling for both Delphi and C++Builder. This means that the developer can continue working while a long-running compile is executed in the background. This will particularly benefit C++ developers.

The Visual Component Library (VCL) is pivotal to both Delphi and C++Builder and has evolved significantly. In the 2009 release, all types were implemented to support Unicode and great new components were introduced, such as Ribbon Controls. These allow developers to build Microsoft Office 'look and feel' applications without the constraints of .NET and the Microsoft Office libraries. In the 2010 release, VCL evolution continues with the introduction of gesturing and touch support. This is a fundamental change to the VCL and allows for full gesturing with either a mouse or a touch screen and is available in all supported Windows versions: 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 RC. To show how seamless gesturing has been implemented, it is possible to take the original "Fishfact" project that shipped with Delphi 1.0 and recompile it in 2010 to be totally gesture/touch enabled with no coding changes. The VCL understands around 30+ common gestures and the interface allows for unlimited creation of custom gestures. RAD Studio is renowned for both powerful and flexible database connectivity and 2010 is no exception. Updated enterprise database drivers have been provided, however there is particular excitement around significant news for the huge Firebird database community: RAD Studio now supports Firebird. The dbExpress integration of Firebird is for versions 1.5 and 2.1.x and seamlessly works in the same way as for all other enterprise databases.

A lot of work has been done on the DataSnap framework that builds on the 2009 release. For 2009, the dependency on COM/DCOM was removed, which made DataSnap one of the fastest ways to build multi-tier applications on Windows. With the 2010 release, flexibility and openness get focus, with applications not only able to consume RESTful calls, but with servers now able to expose services as RESTful to any open architecture from TCP/IP, Web Services, Cloud, and JEE. Also in 2010, the ability to host the server inside IIS has been added, with support for HTTP/HTTPS accessibility and tunneling, as well as many others. There are specific new capabilities for C++Builder developers too, one of the main features is the new Class Browser. This enables a developer to both see and manipulate the structure of the C++ visually.

Finally, Delphi Prism provides a complete development solution for .NET and is able to evolve alongside .NET platform development thanks to the fact that it is built on the Visual Studio Shell (VSS). In the latest release, the Prism environment has added Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP), which takes Object Oriented Programming to the next level.

To make this full portfolio available and make software tooling easier on every level, Embarcadero introduced All-Access in the first half of 2009. This provides access to 19 full software tools through a simple client interface so any user can get the tools that they need exactly when they need them.

All-Access supports on-demand tool use with an "Instant On" capability. This allows the individual products to be loaded into a stand-alone instant virtual machine for the particular product. In the above example around generating an E/R diagram, it is possible to load and run and then shut down. The only trace remaining would be the local file store for any E/R diagram created.

For more information on RAD Studio 2010, please visit

www.embarcadero.com/products/radstudio.