computer science

History of Delphi (software)

History of Delphi (software) is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand History of Delphi (software) rather than just read about it. In short: This page details the history of the programming language and software product Delphi. Roots and birth Delphi evolved from Borland's Turbo Pascal for Windows, itself an evolution with Windows support from Borland's Turbo Pascal and Borland Pascal with Objects, fast 16-bit native-code MS-DOS compilers with their own sophisticated integrated development environment (IDE) and textual user interface toolkit for MS-DOS (…

Key takeaways

History of Delphi (software) belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect History of Delphi (software) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of History of Delphi (software) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This page details the history of the programming language and software product Delphi.

Roots and birth Delphi evolved from Borland's Turbo Pascal for Windows, itself an evolution with Windows support from Borland's Turbo Pascal and Borland Pascal with Objects, fast 16-bit native-code MS-DOS compilers with their own sophisticated integrated development environment (IDE) and textual user interface toolkit for MS-DOS (Turbo Vision). Early Turbo Pascal for MS-DOS was written in a dialect of the Pascal programming language; in later versions support for objects was added, and it was named Object Pascal. Delphi was originally one of many codenames of a pre-release development tool project at Borland. Borland developer Danny Thorpe suggested the Delphi codename in reference to the Oracle at Delphi. One of the design goals of the product was to provide database connectivity to programmers as a key feature and a popular database package at the time was Oracle database; hence, "If you want to talk to [the] Oracle, go to Delphi". As development continued towards the first release, the Delphi codename gained popularity among the development team and beta testing group. However, the Borland marketing leadership preferred a functional product name over an iconic name and made preparations to release the product under the name Borland AppBuilder. Shortly before the release of the Borland product in 1995, Novell AppBuilder was released, leaving Borland in need of a new product name. After multiple debates and market research surveys, the Delphi codename became the Delphi product name.

Early Borland years (1995–2003)

Borland Delphi Delphi (later known as Delphi 1) was released in 1995 for the 16-bit Windows 3.1, and was an early example of what became known as Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools. Delphi 1 features included:

Visual two-way tools Property Method Event (PME) model TObject, records, component, and owner memory management Visual Component Library (VCL) Runtime Library (RTL) Structured exception handling Data-aware components live at design time Database support via BDE and SQL Links

Borland Delphi 2 Delphi 2, released in 1996, supported 32-bit Windows environments and bundled with Delphi 1 to retain 16-bit Windows 3.1 application development. New Quickreport components replacing Borland ReportSmith. Delphi 2 also introduced:

Database Grid OLE automation Visual form inheritance TDataModule Long strings (beyond 255 ASCII characters)

Borland Delphi 3 Delphi 3, released in 1997, added:

New VCL components encapsulating the 4.71 version of Windows Common Controls (such as Rebar and Toolbar) TDataset architecture separated from BDE DLL debugging Code insight technology Component packages, and templates, and integration with COM through interfaces. DecisionCube and Teechart components for statistical graphing WebBroker ActiveForms MIDAS three tier architecture

Inprise Delphi 4 Inprise Delphi 4, released in 1998, completely overhauled the editor and became dockable. It was the last version shipped with Delphi 1 for 16-bit programming. New features included:

VCL added support for ActionLists anchors and constraints. Method overloading Dynamic arrays High performance database drivers Windows 98 and Microsoft BackOffice support Java interoperability CORBA development

Borland Delphi 5 Borland Delphi 5 was released in 1999 and improved upon Delphi 4 by adding:

Frames Parallel development Translation capabilities Enhanced integrated debugger XML support ADO database support Reference counting interfaces

Borland Delphi 6 Shipped in 2001, Delphi 6 supported both Linux (using the name Kylix) and Windows for the first time and offered a cross-platform alternative to the VCL known as CLX. Delphi 6 also added:

The Structure window SOAP web services dbExpress BizSnap, WebSnap, and DataSnap

Borland Delphi 7 Delphi 7, released in August 2002, added support for:

Web application development Windows XP Themes Used by more Delphi developers than any other single version, Delphi 7 is one of the most successful IDEs created by Borland. Its stability, speed, and low hardware requirements led to active use, continuing into the 2020s on Windows 10/11 (updated in 2026).

Later Borland years (2003–2008)

Borland Delphi 8 Delphi 8 (Borland Developer Studio 2.0), released December 2003, was a .NET-only release that compiled Delphi Object Pascal code into .NET CIL. The IDE changed to a docked interface (called Galileo) similar to Microsoft's Visual Studio.NET. Delphi 8 was highly criticized for its low quality and its inability to create native applications (Win32 API/x86 code). The inability to generate native applications is only applicable to this release; the capability would be restored in the next release. Delphi 8 was released in a bundle with Delphi 7 allowing users to use Delphi 7 to generate native applications.

Borland Delphi 2005 The next version, Delphi 2005 (Delphi 9, also Borland Developer Studio 3.0), included the Win32 and .NET development in a single IDE, reiterating Borland's commitment to Win32 developers. Delphi 2005 included:

Regained ability to compile native windows applications (*.exe) after being removed in Delphi 8. Design-time manipulation of live data from a database Improved IDE with multiple themes for ... in statement (like C#'s foreach) to the language. Multi-unit namespaces Error insight History tab Function inlining Refactoring Wild-card in uses statements Data Explorer Integrated unit testing Delphi 2005 was widely criticized for its bugs; both Delphi 8 and Delphi 2005 had stability problems when shipped, which were only partially resolved in service packs. CLX support was dropped for new applications from this release onwards.

Borland Delphi 2006 In late 2005 Delphi 2006 (Delphi 10, also Borland Developer Studio 4.0) was released combining development of C# and Delphi.NET, Delphi Win32 and C++ (Preview when it was shipped but stabilized in Update 1) into a single IDE. It was much more stable than Delphi 8 or Delphi 2005 when shipped, and improved further with the release of two updates and several hotfixes. Delphi 2006 included:

Operator overloading Static methods and properties Designer Guidelines, Form positioner view Live code templates, block completion Line numbers, change bars, sync-edit Code folding and method navigation Debugging Tool-Tips Searchable Tool Palette FastMM memory manager Support for MySQL Unicode support in dbExpress

Turbo Delphi and Turbo Delphi for .NET

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with History of Delphi (software)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what History of Delphi (software) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to History of Delphi (software) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about History of Delphi (software) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of History of Delphi (software)

In research: History of Delphi (software) appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses History of Delphi (software) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: History of Delphi (software) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Delphi (programming language), History of software, Pascal (programming language), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for History of Delphi (software) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study History of Delphi (software) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what History of Delphi (software) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain History of Delphi (software) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is History of Delphi (software) in simple terms?

This page details the history of the programming language and software product Delphi. Roots and birth Delphi evolved from Borland's Turbo Pascal for Windows, itself an evolution with Windows support from Borland's Turbo Pascal and Borland Pascal with Objects, fast 16-bit native-code MS-DOS compile…

Why does History of Delphi (software) matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study History of Delphi (software)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on History of Delphi (software).