What programming language is "Delphi"

[unhappy]

and why does it have such a good support for Windows API

Is it Pascal???

[MrLinus]

Uh... Delphi is Delphi. Google is good for this

The Delphi programming language was developed by Borland and is the descendant of Turbo Pascal. Delphi was released in February 1995. Delphi is a native code compiler that runs under Window v3.1 or Windows '95. Delphi is essentially object Pascal with similar programming tools found in Microsoft Visual Basic 3.0.

Although based on this, it's a descendent of Pascal... interesting. Learn something new every day.

[TheSpecialist]

Actually it is a hell of alot more like VB syntax-wise and also like vb, runtimes are a bitch.

[rapier57]

Yes, Delphi is descended from Turbo Pascal, via Object Pascal (Turbo Pascal 4.0-6.0). The quote from MsMittens must be a bit old, however. The current Delphi has a much more robust programming environment, and now includes .NET runtime.

The syntax of VB and C# heavily copied Borland's syntax, simply because it was so readable. Java also uses a similar structure and syntax. Gotta remember, Borland's Turbo Pascal was the most structured language outside of C on microcomputers for a long time.

Borland will give you Delphi for free (Kylix) for Linux. The current professional version of Delphi for Windows is pretty pricey, though. You can get the old Delphi 2 as a free download, though. It will run the interface and compile object applications in Windows, but there is an additional updated Win32.dll or something that has to be downloaded for WinXP. Otherwise, you will try to compile as you would in Win9x and try to access hardware directly.

This from one who used Turbo Pascal on CP/M in the early 80s.

Edit: Forgot to add a link to the current site for Delphi/Kylix and such:

http://www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/pascal.shtml

[unhappy]

Specialist ... what do you mean "runtimes are a bitch"

[unhappy]

Specialist ... what do you mean?

[|3lack|ce]

Wow you waited a long time for Specialist to answer - On a suggestion, you might refer up to rapier57's post - it answers that quite nicely. I'd also suggest googling to find out more.