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KYLIX := DELPHI in [LINUX]
Step forward in the application development software for the Linux platform.
Dateline: 03/14/2000
Code name: Kylix
The Kylix initiative was officially launched on 28 September, 1999 when Inprise/Borland issued a news release describing the product as "a high-performance Linux application-development environment that will support C, C++, and Delphi development."
It began with the Borland on-line Linux survey during the summer 1999, in which over 10,000 programmers asked for a Linux version of Delphi.
The project code-named Kylix is intended to be the first high-performance RAD tool for Linux, enabling developers familiar with the tools to build native Linux applications and for Windows applications built with them to be ported to Linux relatively easily.
Note: It seems that Kylix is not to be the first RAD for Linux. If you 'hate' Windows and can't wait for a Linux development tool, take a look at Omnis Studio.
Kylix will be a component-based development environment for two-way visual development of graphical user interface, internet, database and server applications. The tool is a component-based, drag-and-drop environment with support for multitier databases and the Internet enabled applications. It will support all application development models from Fat to Ultra-thin. Supported standards and protocols will include: CGI, NSAPI, XML and DHTML for distributed Web applications. Kylix is a complete applications development environment that will support the development of both open-source and proprietary applications.
Key to Kylix is a Linux version of Inprise's visual component library. The library is designed to be compatible with Delphi and C++ Builder to make it easier to port Windows-based applications to Linux. A Linux version of the Visual Component Library (VCL) used in Delphi and C++Builder will be included.
Kylix is not a port of Delphi and CBuilder but a new product using entirely Linux standards and Linux components while incorporating the best features of the Borland Windows development tools. The Borland Linux tools are being developed in tandem with the next version of Windows-based Delphi and CBuilder tools. Kylix will leverage the functions within those integrated-development environments and share the visual component library within their frameworks.
Note: Borland has been doing tools for years, and for them to jump into the Linux space is a big win for Linux on the development side. Inprise said that Kylix would 'simplify' the porting of Delphi and C++Builder applications between Windows and Linux: commentators have been quick to point out that it is unrealistic to expect applications developed for Windows to simply recompile under Linux. Exactly how much work will be needed to port existing code remains to be seen.
When will we be able to see Kylix?
The arrival in mid-2000 of the Linux versions of Delphi is all we have to wait for!
Related
Danny Thorpe addresses some of the commonly expressed fears, misconceptions, and even misplaced euphoria about Delphi and Linux and Kylix.
There is another interesting angle, though, to the evolution of Kylix: how will this new Delphi affect the Windows version?
Here's some of the typical questions asked at Linux Business Expo: "Is Kylix 'Delphi for Linux'?", ... "Is Kylix a native Linux development tool?", ... "Will I be able to recompile a Delphi for Windows app under Kylix?", etc.
Website with the latest news about Kylix. "Kylix Kicks" is the place to find information about Linux-related (developer) information.
"Because Linux is so distributed, one source like an MSDN for Linux development does not exist. Finding out various implementation details we will face with Kylix is very time-consuming, and is a costly part of "research" done with R&D. I hope the links our R&D team has discovered will help save you some time"
"This article articles intends to brief youon Kylix technical bits that you need to be aware of to prepare yourself and your code for possible porting or migration to the Linux universe: What will the nuts and bolts look like? What will port, what won't?"
Explores books that anticipate Delphi for Linux.
"The Linux community is devoted to all things Linux; the software, the users, the issues, the bird worship, the mergers, the hype, the stocks ... and to supporting getting more people using Linux as the ideal base for Internet solutions..."
The starting place for exploring Focus On Linux, from Aron Hsiao an About.com guide.
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