View source for Delphi (software)

{{Short description|General-purpose programming language and a software product}}
{{for|the macromolecular electrostatics modeling software package|DelPhi}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Delphi
| logo = Embarcadero_Delphi_10.4_Sydney_Product_Logo_and_Icon.svg
| screenshot = Screenshot of Delphi 10.4 IDE with VCL designer and Dark Theme.png
| programming language = Mostly Delphi (Object Pascal)
| caption = Screenshot of Delphi 10.4, with the visual form editor being used to create an application
| author = [[Borland]], [[CodeGear]], [[Embarcadero Technologies|Embarcadero]]
| developer = [[Embarcadero Technologies]]
| released = 1995
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|P548=Q2804309|P348}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|P548=Q2804309|P348|P577}}}}
| operating_system = Runs on [[Windows]];<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/Sydney/en/Installation_Notes#Operating_System_Requirements | title=Installation Notes - Operating System Requirements | access-date=2020-09-05 | archive-date=2020-08-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806012405/http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/Sydney/en/Installation_Notes#Operating_System_Requirements | url-status=live }}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=August 2025}} targets [[Windows]], [[Linux]], [[macOS]], [[Android (operating system)|Android]], [[iOS]]
| genre = [[Software Development]], [[Graphical user interface builder|Designer]], [[Integrated development environment|IDE]], [[Compiler]], [[Runtime library|RTL]]
| license = [[Freemium]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi}}
}}

'''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 application|mobile]], [[web application|web]], and [[console application|console]] software,<ref name="Buchanan2003">{{cite book|author=William Buchanan|title=Mastering Delphi Programming|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2AgnBQAAQBAJ&pg=PP10|date=4 February 2003|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-17356-0|pages=10–}}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> currently developed and maintained by [[Embarcadero Technologies]].

Delphi's compilers generate [[native code]] for [[Microsoft Windows]], [[macOS]], [[iOS]], [[Android (operating system)|Android]] and [[Linux]] ([[X86-64|x64]]).<ref>{{cite web|title=Performance Comparison from Delphi 2010 to XE6 (Part 2)|date=12 May 2014 |url=http://blogs.riversoftavg.com/index.php/2014/05/12/performance-comparison-from-delphi-2010-to-xe6-part-2/|publisher=Riversoft AVG|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-date=26 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726170712/http://blogs.riversoftavg.com/index.php/2014/05/12/performance-comparison-from-delphi-2010-to-xe6-part-2/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=The Delphi Geek: Built For Speed|url=http://www.thedelphigeek.com/2010/06/built-for-speed.html|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-date=23 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323012544/http://www.thedelphigeek.com/2010/06/built-for-speed.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Discussion on Hacker News about Delphi being alive|url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7614236|publisher=Hacker News|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-date=2 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702153911/https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7614236|url-status=live}}</ref>

Delphi includes a code editor, a visual designer, an integrated debugger, a [[Version control|source code control]] component, and support for third-party [[Plugin (computing)|plugins]]. The code editor features [[Code Insight]] ([[code completion]]), Error Insight (real-time error-checking), and [[Code refactoring|refactoring]]. The visual forms designer has the option of using either the [[Visual Component Library]] (VCL) for pure Windows development or the [[FireMonkey]] (FMX) framework for cross-platform development. Database support is a key feature and is provided by [[FireDAC]] (Database Access Components). Delphi is known for its fast compilation speed, native code, and developer productivity.{{Citation needed|reason=There are no citations in this paragraph and the last sentence is written like an endorsement.|date=November 2021}}

Delphi was originally developed by [[Borland]] as a [[rapid application development]] tool for Windows as the successor of [[Turbo Pascal]]. Delphi added full [[object-oriented programming]] to the existing language, and the language has grown to support generics, [[Anonymous function|anonymous methods]], [[Anonymous function#Closures|closures]], and native [[Component Object Model]] (COM) support.

Delphi and its [[C++]] counterpart, [[C++Builder]], are interoperable and jointly sold under the name RAD Studio. There are Professional, Enterprise, and Architect editions, with the higher editions having more features at a higher price. There is also a free-of-charge Community edition, with most of the features of Professional, but restricted to users and companies with low revenue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Delphi: App Development Product Editions |author= |website=Embarcadero |date= |access-date=13 March 2021 |url=https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi/product-editions |archive-date=14 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314162551/https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi/product-editions |url-status=live }} With download link for Delphi Feature Matrix</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=August 2025}}

==Features==
Delphi supports [[rapid application development]] (RAD). Prominent features are a visual designer and two [[application framework]]s, [[Visual Component Library]] (VCL) for Windows and [[FireMonkey]] (FMX) for cross-platform development.

Delphi uses the [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]]-based programming language [[Object Pascal]] created by [[Anders Hejlsberg]] for Borland (now IDERA) as the successor to Turbo Pascal. It supports native [[cross-compilation]] to many platforms including Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.

To better support development for Microsoft Windows and interoperate with code developed with other software development tools, Delphi supports independent interfaces of [[Component Object Model]] (COM) with [[reference counting]] class implementations, and support for many third-party components. [[Interface (computer science)|Interface]] implementations can be delegated to fields or properties of classes. Message handlers are implemented by tagging a [[Method (computer programming)|method]] of a [[Class (programming)|class]] with the integer constant of the message to handle.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

[[Database]] connectivity is extensively supported through VCL database-aware and database access components.

Later versions have included upgraded and enhanced runtime library routines, some provided by the community group [[FastCode]].

===Characteristics===
Delphi uses a [[Strongly-typed programming language|strongly typed]] [[high-level programming language]], intended to be easy to use and originally based on the earlier Object Pascal language. [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] was originally developed as a general-purpose language "suitable for expressing the fundamental constructs known at the time in a concise and logical way", and "its implementation was to be efficient and competitive with existing FORTRAN compilers"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.math.bas.bg/bantchev/place/pascal/recollections.pdf|title=Recollections About the Development of Pascal|access-date=2016-01-12|archive-date=2016-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512232508/http://www.math.bas.bg/bantchev/place/pascal/recollections.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> but without low-level programming facilities or access to hardware. Turbo Pascal and its descendants, including Delphi, support access to hardware and low-level programming, with the facility to incorporate code written in [[assembly language]] and other languages. Delphi's [[Object-oriented programming|object-orientation]] features only class- and interface-based [[Polymorphism (computer science)|polymorphism]].<ref name="WangTan2006">{{cite book|author1=Lingfeng Wang|author2=Kay CHen Tan|title=Modern Industrial Automation Software Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H93R1EE7rL8C&pg=PA113|date=20 January 2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-471-77627-7|pages=113–}}</ref> Metaclasses are first class objects. Objects are references to the objects (as in [[Java (programming language)|Java]]), which Delphi implicitly de-references, so there is usually no need to manually allocate memory for pointers to objects or use similar techniques that some other languages need. There are dedicated reference-counted string types, and also null-terminated strings.

Strings can be concatenated by using the '+' operator, rather than using functions. For dedicated string types, Delphi handles memory management without programmer intervention. Since Borland Developer Studio 2006, there are functions to locate [[memory leak]]s.

Delphi includes an integrated IDE. The Delphi products all ship with a run-time library (RTL) and a [[Visual Component Library]] (VCL), including most of its source code. Third-party components (sometimes with full [[source code]]) and tools to enhance the IDE or for other Delphi related development tasks are available, some free of charge. The IDE includes a GUI for localization and translation of created programs that may be deployed to a translator; there are also third-party tools with more features for this purpose. The VCL framework maintains a high level of source compatibility between versions, which simplifies updating existing source code to a newer Delphi version. Third-party libraries typically need updates from the vendor but, if source code is supplied, recompilation with the newer version may be sufficient. The VCL was an early adopter of [[dependency injection]] or [[inversion of control]]; it uses a reusable component model, extensible by the developer. With class helpers, new functionality can be introduced to core RTL and VCL classes without changing the original source code of the RTL or VCL.

Delphi supports a wide range of third-party database access components that provide native connectivity to major database systems. These include specialized libraries for Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and InterBase/Firebird. Some components, like [https://www.capterra.com/p/250231/Delphi-Data-Access-Components/ DAC], offer universal data access solutions supporting multiple databases and cloud services such as Salesforce and FreshBooks. These libraries are regularly updated to remain compatible with the latest IDE versions (e.g., RAD Studio 12), operating systems (e.g., macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, Android 13), and database engines (e.g., Oracle 23, SQL Server 2022, PostgreSQL 16).

The compiler is [[Optimizing compiler|optimizing]] and is a [[One-pass compiler|single-pass compiler]]. It can optionally compile to a single [[executable]] which does not require [[Dynamic-link library|DLL]]s. Delphi can also generate standard DLLs, [[ActiveX]] DLLs, [[Component Object Model|COM]] automation servers and [[Windows services]].

The Delphi IDEs since Delphi 2005 increasingly support [[refactoring]] features such as method extraction and the possibility to create [[Unified Modeling Language|UML]] models from the source code or to modify the source through changes made in the model.

Delphi has communities on the [[World Wide Web|web]], where also its employees actively participate. And Delphi is using in collaboration with FireDAC components.

===Backward compatibility===

Delphi is one of the languages where backward compatibility is close to 100%. Although each new release of Delphi attempts to keep as much [[backward compatibility]] as possible to allow existing code reuse, new features, new libraries, and improvements sometimes make newer releases less than 100% backward compatible.

Since 2016, there have been new releases of Delphi every six months, with new platforms being added approximately every second release.<ref>{{cite web|title=List of Delphi language features and version in which they were introduced/deprecated|url=https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8460037/list-of-delphi-language-features-and-version-in-which-they-were-introduced-depre|publisher=Stack Overflow|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-date=28 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228200427/http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8460037/list-of-delphi-language-features-and-version-in-which-they-were-introduced-depre|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Frameworks===

Delphi offers two frameworks for visual application development, VCL and FireMonkey (FMX):
* [[Visual Component Library]] (VCL) is the framework for developing pure Windows applications. VCL is a long-standing framework, included in the first release of Delphi and actively developed ever since then.
* [[FireMonkey]] (later abbreviated FMX), was released in 2011, as part of Delphi XE2, together with an additional set of built-in compilers for non-Windows platforms. FireMonkey is a cross-platform framework for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux (x64). The GUI parts of FireMonkey are largely based on Direct3D and OpenGL. FireMonkey is not compatible with VCL; they are two separate frameworks. FireMonkey applications do, however, allow easy sharing of non-visual code [[Unit (Software Development)|units]] with VCL applications, enabling a lot of code to be ported or shared easily between the platforms.

===Interoperability===

Delphi and its [[C++]] counterpart, [[C++Builder]], are interoperable. They share many core components, notably the IDE, the VCL and FMX frameworks, and much of the [[runtime library]]. In addition, they can be used jointly in a project. For example, C++Builder 6 and later can combine source code from Delphi and C++ in one project, while packages compiled with C++Builder can be used from within Delphi. In 2007, the products were released jointly as RAD Studio, a shared host for Delphi and C++Builder, which can be purchased with either or both.
Starting with Rio, there is also interoperability with Python.

=== Sample "Hello World" program ===
{{See also|Object Pascal#Delphi_and_Free_Pascal_version}}<syntaxhighlight lang="delphi">
program ObjectPascalExample;

type
  THelloWorld = class
    procedure Put;
  end;

procedure THelloWorld.Put;
begin
  Writeln('Hello, World!');
end;

var
  HelloWorld: THelloWorld;               { this is an implicit pointer }

begin
  HelloWorld := THelloWorld.Create;      { constructor returns a pointer to an object of type THelloWorld }
  HelloWorld.Put;
  HelloWorld.Free;                       { this line deallocates the THelloWorld object pointed to by HelloWorld }
end.
</syntaxhighlight>Note that the object construct is still available in Delphi.

==History==
{{Hatnote|See [[History of Delphi (software)]] for details on the progression of language and IDE development from 1995 to the present.}}

== Uses in schools ==
In 2016, Delphi was named the language of choice for teaching programming in [[South Africa]]n schools as a subject of information technology (IT).<ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |title=Embarcadero Delphi named developer language of choice for South African schools |url=https://mybroadband.co.za/news/software/157199-embarcadero-delphi-named-developer-language-of-choice-for-south-african-schools.html |date=2016-02-03 |access-date=2022-03-17 |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331204240/https://mybroadband.co.za/news/software/157199-embarcadero-delphi-named-developer-language-of-choice-for-south-african-schools.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Roadmaps==
Embarcadero used to publish "roadmaps" describing their future development plans. The last one was published in November 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.embarcadero.com/rad-studio-november-2020-roadmap-pm-commentary/|title=RAD Studio November 2020 Roadmap PM Commentary|date=17 November 2020 |publisher=blogs.embarcadero.com|access-date=2020-11-27|archive-date=2020-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128221819/https://blogs.embarcadero.com/rad-studio-november-2020-roadmap-pm-commentary/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=August 2025}} Version 10.5 referred to in the November 2020 roadmap was renamed 11.0.
Starting with Delphi 11, Embarcadero decided to no longer publish formal roadmaps. Instead, possible new features are now presented in a loose order through blog entries and online webinars. An important role has Marco Cantú (product manager) with his [https://blogs.embarcadero.com/author/marcocantuembarcadero-com/ blog].{{cn|date=August 2025}}

==Related software==
* Borland Enterprise Studio, a precursor to RAD Studio, is a software development suite that includes support for multiple languages. Borland Enterprise Studio for Windows supports Delphi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.borland.com/estudio/ |title=Borland Enterprise Studio |access-date=2002-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020205084110/http://www.borland.com/estudio/ |archive-date=2002-02-05 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Borland Kylix]]: Similar to Delphi, but for Linux, released in 2001. This was the first attempt to add Linux support to the Delphi product family.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://edn.embarcadero.com/article/26771 |title=Kylix is here! |access-date=2020-09-05 |archive-date=2019-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904154032/http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/26771 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Kylix used the new CLX cross-platform framework (based on [[Qt (software)|Qt]]), instead of Delphi's VCL. Kylix was discontinued after version 3. Today Linux support is integrated into the main Delphi product and uses the FireMonkey cross-platform framework.
* [[InterBase]] is an embeddable SQL database that integrates natively to Delphi and C++Builder for client/server or embedded development. Its distinguishing features reduced administration requirements, commercial-grade data security, disaster recovery, and change synchronization. It is also accessible by all major languages and platforms in the market with database connection protocols like ODBC, ADO, ADO.NET and even with Java by JDBC/ODBC Bridge or Java type 4 connectors.
* [[JBuilder]] was a tool for Java development based on Eclipse since version JBuilder 2007.
* [[RadPHP]] (later replaced with HTML5 Builder) was an [[Integrated development environment|IDE]] for [[PHP]] that provided true RAD functionality. It has a form designer similar to that of Delphi or [[Visual Basic]], and an integrated debugger based on the [[Apache HTTP Server|Apache]] web server. It also includes a [[Visual Component Library|VCL]] library ported to PHP. Unlike other IDEs, it supports Web 2.0 features such as [[Ajax (programming)|Ajax]]. Delphi for PHP was announced on March 20, 2007, renamed in October 2010 to RadPHP, and is based on Qadram Q studio. Embarcadero acquired Qadram in January 2011.
* Delphi Prism (later renamed Embarcadero Prism) derived from the [[Oxygene (programming language)|Oxygene language]] (formerly named Chrome) from RemObjects. It ran in the Microsoft Visual Studio IDE rather than RAD Studio. It was licensed and rebranded by Embarcadero to replace Delphi.NET when that product was discontinued.
* [[Free Pascal]] is an open-source Pascal [[Cross-platform software|cross-platform]] [[cross-compiler]] that supports most of Delphi's Object Pascal code. Free Pascal also has its own language extensions, multiple compiler [language syntax] modes, and supports 18+ operating systems and 9+ processor architectures.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freepascal.org/ |title=Free Pascal Homepage |publisher=freepascal.org |access-date=2016-04-27 |archive-date=1999-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990125095436/http://www.freepascal.org/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Lazarus (IDE)|Lazarus]] is a cross-platform RAD IDE that uses the Free Pascal compiler.

===Notable third-party libraries===
* [[FastCode]] – Enhanced [[runtime library|runtime libraries]] and memory manager.
* [[OpenWire (library)]] – Data flow, events, and state synchronization component library.
* [[Teechart]] – Charting library.

==References==
{{Reflist |30em}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}

{{Pascal programming language family}}
{{Integrated development environments}}
{{GUI builders}}

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