FireMonkey Under the Hood: How FireMonkey Does What It Does

Here are two great videos from ITDevCon 2012 by Ray Konopka that talk about how FireMonkey does what it does. Ray gives an overview of the high-level differences between VCL and FMX. In part 2 he shows how to create custom FMX controls.

I love the way Ray gets frustrated. He's just like us.

Creating Custom FireMonkey Controls Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0NeWCmKAnU

Creating Custom FireMonkey Controls Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufCKmYAxyCA 

Update: 10/03/2015
I spoke with Ray and he gave me the link so we can download the source code he used in the demo. Thanks Ray!
http://www.raize.com/Sessions/CustomFMXControls.zip

Enjoy - Semper Fi
Gunny Mike

Blaise Pascal Magazine: Complete Article Index

I subscribed to Blaise Pascal Magazine last year. I also purchased the complete back issue library which contains all previous issues of the magazine. Unfortunately the index that came with the Lib Stick didn't work. So I made my own index as a quick reference to help me find the articles I'm interested in.

Download Excel File

Article	Author	Issue	Page	Type	Year
Delphi 2007 Handbook	Frans Doove	1	4	Book Review	2008
Delphi Win 32 / .NET Component Development	Frans Doove	1	4	Book Review	2008
Representing graphics for math functions	Peter Bijlsma	1	6	Article	2008
Client Dataset Toolkit	Detlef Overbeek	1	8	Article	2008
Website name checking	Henk Schreij	1	9	Article	2008
Database normalisation	Herman Peeren	1	11	Article	2008
Delphi 2007 and VCL Component Building	Bob Swart	1	13	Article	2008
Wallpaper	Detlef Overbeek	1	16	Article	2008
Coding for two or more types	Henk Schreij	1	17	Article	2008
Recipe for creating a cookbook	Tim Opsteeg	1	21	Article	2008
Exploring Rave Reports	Rik Smit	1	25	Article	2008
Drawing on a changing background	David Dirkse	1	33	Article	2008
Mini application: Opening files	Detlef Overbeek	1	35	Article	2008
Rotating images	Detlef Overbeek	1	36	Article	2008
Delphi for PHP .2 new version	Herman Peeren	2	3	Article	2008
Delphi 7 for Win 32 Development Essentials	Frans Doove	2	6	Book Review	2008
Essential Pascal	Frans Doove	2	6	Book Review	2008
Applied Mathematics for Database Professionals	Frans Doove	2	7	Book Review	2008
Illustrated C# 2008	Frans Doove	2	7	Book Review	2008
Efficient Pascal – For-loops	Hallvard Vassbotn	2	9	Article	2008
Hack #1: Write access to a read-only property	Hallvard Vassbotn	2	11	Article	2008
Resizing Bitmaps	David Dirkse	2	12	Article	2008
Making right-justified Edits	Henk Schreij	2	14	Article	2008
Delphi 2007 VCL Component Building - II	Bob Swart	2	16	Article	2008
ClientDataset filtering	Martin De Bont	2	20	Article	2008
Binary Heap	Julian Bucknall	2	21	Article	2008
Intraweb and AJAX	Bob Swart	2	25	Article	2008
Solving unknown variables	Peter Bijlsma	2	28	Article	2008
Obfuscator?	Rob van den Bogert	2	30	Article	2008
Restricting Edits to numbers	Henk Schreij	2	32	Article	2008
Monitor aspects	Jeremy North	2	33	Article	2008
Euro symbol generation with the Alt key	Henk Schreij	2	38	Article	2008
VCL Ribbon controls	Jeremy North	3	3	Article	2008
The Tomes of Delphi: Algorithms and Data Structures	Frans Doove	3	5	Book Review	2008
Advantage Database Server, A Developer's Guide	Frans Doove	3	5	Book Review	2008
Combining visual components in an object	Wim Zandt	3	6	Article	2008
A simple component for color selection	David Dirkse	3	9	Article	2008
Introduction to Enumerators	Primož Gabrijelcic	3	10	Article	2008
Images in a DbGrid	Henk Schreij	3	12	Article	2008
Change indication in a multiuser system	Henk Schreij	3	15	Article	2008
Curve Fitting made easy	Peter Bijlsma	3	16	Article	2008
Advantage Database Server 9	Rob van den Bogert	3	19	Article	2008
VCL Property Editors	Bob Swart	3	21	Article	2008
Hack#2: Access to protected methods	Hallvard Vassbotn	3	26	Article	2008
Hack#1 update	Hallvard Vassbotn	3	27	Article	2008
Delphi Stream Classes	Marco Cantù	3	28	Article	2008
TExpandButton	Jeremy North	3	30	Article	2008
Extending streams	Julian Bucknall	3	32	Article	2008
Service Oriented Architecture	Fikret Hasovic	3	36	Article	2008
Advanced Enumerators	Primož Gabrijelcic	4	4	Article	2008
Text encryption	David Dirkse	4	7	Article	2008
First In First Out	Frank Dubbeld	4	8	Article	2008
Delphi and the Keyboard	David Dirkse	4	9	Article	2008
RichEdit reports	Henk Schreij	4	11	Article	2008
BookmarkStr	Henk Schreij	4	15	Article	2008
Continuation Curve Fitting made easy	Peter Bijlsma	4	17	Article	2008
Delphi 2009, Development Essentials	Frans Doove	4	20	Book Review	2008
Delphi 2009 Language Enhancements	Bob Swart	4	21	Article	2008
Hacks3-Access to private fields	Hallvard Vassbotn	4	26	Article	2008
Creating TView object	Jeremy North	4	27	Article	2008
Delphi Memory Streams	Marco Cantù	4	30	Article	2008
SOA part two	Fikret Hasovic	4	33	Article	2008
Delphi 2009 Handbook	Frans Doove	5	4	Book Review	2009
Delphi 2009 Development Essentials	Frans Doove	5	4	Book Review	2009
Specifying more than one shortcut key	Henk Schreij	5	6	Article	2009
Solution for slow scrolling in DbGrids	Henk Schreij	5	7	Article	2009
The Xbitmap component	David Dirkse	5	9	Article	2009
Painting frames	David Dirkse	5	12	Article	2009
Creating Stereographic Images	Peter Bijlsma	5	13	Article	2009
Dialogue boxes	Adrian Kummerlaender	5	15	Article	2009
The “Oracle” of Delphi	Thomas Pfister	5	16	Article	2009
Advanced Enumerators	Primož Gabrijelcic	5	19	Article	2009
Using TReader en TWriter	Marco Cantù	5	22	Article	2009
ASP.NET Web Services with Delphi Prism 2009	Bob Swart	5	24	Article	2009
Ceating a progress bar	Jeremy North	5	30	Article	2009
SOA part three	Fikret Hasovic	5	33	Article	2009
An Advantage for Delphi Developers	Cary Jensen	6	5	Article	2009
Delphi Roadmap	Marco Cantù	6	8	Article	2009
A Twitter REST Client in Delphi	Marco Cantù	6	11	Article	2009
Resolving in “kbmMW”	Fikret Hasovic	6	22	Article	2009
JSDialog Pack	Jeremy North	6	31	Article	2009
Visual Forms	Jeremy North	6	33	Article	2009
RemObjects Hydra: Win32 and .NET Plugins	Bob Swart	6	36	Article	2009
Controlling the parallel port	Thiago Batista Limeira	6	51	Article	2009
The Xbitmap class (part 2) Lines and Ellipses	David Dirkse	6	96	Article	2009
The Xbitmap class (part 3) Polygons	David Dirkse	7	13	Article	2009
FastReport, A report generator for Delphi and .NET	Marco Roessen	7	18	Article	2009
When as var, const, out: or not to declare	Henk Schreij	7	24	Article	2009
Using Colours in DBGrid	Henk Schreij	7	25	Article	2009
Writing Delphi Components: an Introduction	Marco Cantù	7	27	Article	2009
Windows Communication Foundation with Delphi Prism	Bob Swart	7	30	Article	2009
Datastore metadata	Fikret Hasovic	7	34	Article	2009
using the Alt Key	Frans Dubbeid	7	38	Article	2009
Delphi 2010 – what a feeling! Gestures	Bob Swart	8	7	Article	2009
Counters	David Dirkse	8	11	Article	2009
Virus in Delphi?	Nick Hodges	8	14	Article	2009
Dezign for databases	Marco Roessen	8	16	Article	2009
Customizing the T-Field data display	Henk Schreij	8	18	Article	2009
Using Free Pascal and Lazarus to create applications for OSX	Jeremy North	8	20	Article	2009
Writing Delphi Components II	Marco Cantù	8	22	Article	2009
My Top Five Delphi 2010 New Features	Pawel Glowacki	8	24	Article	2009
Fast Graphic deformation by using Scanlines	Peter Bijlsma	8	28	Article	2009
Wide Information Bus (Introduction)	Fikret Hasovic	8	33	Article	2009
Freehand Drawing (Introduction)	David Dirkse	8	36	Article	2009
The 3D spheres generator	David Dirkse	9	5	Article	2009
What is kbmMW?	Benno Evers	9	7	Article	2009
Delphi 2010 Feature Highlight - Debugger Visualizers	Jeremy North	9	12	Article	2009
Introduction to multithreading	Primož Gabrijelcic	9	18	Article	2009
Writing Delphi Components III	Marco Cantù	9	21	Article	2009
Talking Delphi	Henk Schreij	9	25	Article	2009
LCD Interfacing: Driving a HD44780 LCD in Delphi	Thiago Batista Limeira	9	28	Article	2009
Exploring the inplace editing capabilities of TAdvStringGrid	Bruno Fierens	9	34	Article	2009
Remembering input	Henk Schreij	10	6	Article	2010
Rotating photo cube	Peter Bijlsma	10	7	Article	2010
Non overlapping rectangles	David Dirkse	10	11	Article	2010
The Wide Information Bus part 2	Fikret Hasovic	10	12	Article	2010
Library Unit	Henk Schreij	10	16	Article	2010
Delphi Component writing part 4	Marco Cantù	10	20	Article	2010
Delphi 2010 Delayed Dynamic Link Libraries	Bob Swart	10	23	Article	2010
Four Ways to Create a Thread	Primož Gabrijelcic	10	25	Article	2010
Delphi Advanced Tools:	Michael Rozlog	10	30	Article	2010
DelphiController	Anton Vogelaar	10	33	Article	2010
TWebUpdate & UpdateBuilder	Bruno Fierens	10	34	Article	2010
Debugger Visualizers Part 2	Jeremy North	10	36	Article	2010
Synchronisation in a multithreaded environment	Primož Gabrijelcic	11	5	Article	2010
PacMan in Delphi/Lazarus Algorithm jungle - or how to get caught	Jean Pierre Hoefnagel	11	8	Article	2010
Moving from the BDE to ADS he End of the BDE?	Bob Swart	11	11	Article	2010
Putting photographs on the internet A program using Indy Ftp	Henk Schreij	11	16	Article	2010
Shrinking of JPEGs Not small enough?	Henk Schreij	11	20	Article	2010
An Introduction to theGoogle Docs API with Delphi Googling magic...	Marco Cantù	11	22	Article	2010
Using TMS Poly List Controls	Bruno Fierens	11	24	Article	2010
CodeHealer 2.6: fantastic toolkit or healer?	Rik Smit	11	28	Article	2010
Drawing regular Polygons Make it look like a star	David Dirkse	11	31	Article	2010
Database Workbench, productivity tool A fantastic Tool	Miguel van de Laar	11	34	Article	2010
Programming Frogs	David Dirkse	11	35	Article	2010
Introducing the Open Tools API	Jeremy North	11	37	Article	2010
Design patterns Starting a web series of basic patterns	Herman Peeren	11	39	Article	2010
Electronics Delphi Controller and Delphi Developer board	Anton Vogelaar	12	5	Article	2010
RAD Studio XE Preview	Detlef Overbeek	12	7	Article	2010
SQL produced by the ClientDataSet	Henk Schreij	12	12	Article	2010
Introducing GoogleDocsApi_SecondPart	Marco Cantù	12	16	Article	2010
The use of kbmMW components in a server application	Benno Evers	12	18	Article	2010
Inter Process Communication	Primož Gabrijelcic	12	24	Article	2010
Peg Solitaire - a single player puzzle	David Dirkse	12	27	Article	2010
Trans-continental travel using the great circle	Peter Bijlsma	12	31	Article	2010
Creating gateways and other advanced topics	Fikret Hasovic	12	34	Article	2010
Creating Office 2010 style VCL applications with TMS components	Bruno Fierens	12	37	Article	2010
Mini Course SQL	Miguel van de Laar	13	10	Article	2010
Delphi JSON Viewer	Pawel Glowacki	13	13	Article	2010
Is Lazarus ready for writing commercial applications ?	Zeljan	13	16	Article	2010
NexusDB exceptionaly good, a real surprise...	Erwin Mouthaan	13	22	Article	2010
The TMS DataModeler	Bruno Fierens	13	27	Article	2010
Introduction to Databases Part 1	Cary Jensen	13	31	Article	2010
First Look at Advantage Database Server® 10	Cary Jensen	13	35	Article	2010
Real-time data collection	Anton Vogelaar	13	39	Article	2010
About Object oriented databases	Detlef Overbeek	13	45	Article	2010
Fastreport, whats up?	Detlef Overbeek	13	52	Article	2010
Using ADS with Delphi Prism and ASP.NET	Bob Swart	13	59	Article	2010
A datawarehouse example using kbmMW	Kim Madsen	13	66	Article	2010
Multiplatform Windows CE	Joost van der Sluis	13	73	Article	2010
Five Considerations for Choosing an Effective SQL Development Tool	Scott Walz	13	81	Article	2010
Pascal’s triangle by	Detlef Overbeek	14	8	Article	2010
Create an Index of your (backup) CD's/DVD's by	Peter Bijlsma	14	10	Article	2010
Debugging multithreaded applications by	Primož Gabrijelcic	14	15	Article	2010
Using Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) from Delphi	Marco Cantù	14	19	Article	2010
A small spamming machine by	Detlef Overbeek	14	22	Article	2010
Creating a Webserver in 5 minutes using kbmMW! by	Kim Madsen	14	24	Article	2010
Gadgets in your Delphi Windows application by	Henk Schreij	14	28	Article	2010
Open Tools API (OTA) by	Jeremy North	14	30	Article	2010
Exploring the Async capabilities of TMS IntraWeb grids	Bruno Fierens	14	37	Article	2010
Delphi XE Starter edition reviewed	Howard Page-Clark	15	7	Article	2011
Delphi XE Starter try: a littel Mailserver	Jim Duff	15	13	Article	2011
ClientDataset: what to do if you dont have it?	Detlef Overbeek	15	21	Article	2011
Introduction to Databases Part 2: Common Database Objects	Cary Jensen	15	28	Article	2011
Advantage Database Server and Delphi XE Starter Edition	Howard Page-Clark	15	31	Article	2011
Moving /adding your components into the Delphi Starter Edition	Rik Smit	15	35	Article	2011
Delphi and Unicode	Peter Prisman	16	8	Article	2011
Anything to celebrate?	Peter Bijlsma	16	10	Article	2011
The Xfont project	David Dirkse	16	12	Article	2011
Learning to use FastReport 4 for VCL, Part 1	Sergey Lyubeznyy	16	19	Article	2011
Introduction to 64 bits on Windows	Alexander Alexeev	16	28	Article	2011
Creating iPhone/iPod/iPad web applications with Delphi & TMS controls	Bruno Fierens	16	33	Article	2011
Introduction to Databases Part 3: TDataSet	Cary Jensen	16	39	Article	2011
64-bit Delphi programs are on the way	Primož Gabrijelcic	16	43	Article	2011
Pascal Programing in the Android OS	Felipe Monteiro de Cavalho	16	46	Article	2011
FieldByName alternatives	Henk Schreij	16	54	Article	2011
The FlexCel components in action	Siegfried Zuhr	16	57	Article	2011
Writing new components in Lazarus	Howard Page-Clark	17	4	Article	2011
Theme: Using Amazon S3 from Delphi (Part II)	Marco Cantù	17	12	Article	2011
The calculation of expressions with complex numbers and/or three-dimensional vectors	Anne Meijer	17	17	Article	2011
Waiting for x64: WOW64	Alexander Alexeev	17	21	Article	2011
Learning to use FastReport 4 for VCL, Part 2	Sergey Lyubeznyy	17	24	Article	2011
Pascal's Triangle revisited	Paul Gellings	17	29	Article	2011
Introduction to Test-Driven-Development (TDD) in Delphi	Alexander Alexeev	17	31	Article	2011
Theme: DataSnap and Android (Part I)	Daniele Teti	17	38	Article	2011
Financial functions in Delphi	Peter Bijlsma	17	43	Article	2011
Magic-Button Anti-Pattern	Alexander Alexeev	17	45	Article	2011
Tiles everywhere: introduction to TAdvSmoothTileList	Bruno Fierens	17	48	Article	2011
Introduction to Databases part 4: TDataSet	Cary Jensen	17	53	Article	2011
Writing New Components in Lazarus, Part 2	Howard Page-Clark	18	6	Article	2011
Delphi XE2 is the future - theme XE2	Fikret Hasovic	18	13	Article	2011
Cylindrical anamorphosis	Peter Bijlsma	18	17	Article	2011
Web Service Toolkit as a rich type framework for Plug-in development	Inoussa Ouedraogo	18	21	Article	2011
Polygon colouring and area calculation	David Dirkse	18	24	Article	2011
Creating a Database program from scratch - 1	Detlef Overbeek	18	29	Article	2011
An Android client for a DataSnap Server – Part 2	Daniele Teti	18	34	Article	2011
Anti-freeze for the VCL	Alexander Alexeev	18	39	Article	2011
Delphi XE2 New Features - theme XE2	Bob Swart	18	46	Article	2011
Learning to use FastReport 4 for VCL - Part 3	Sergey Lyubeznyy	18	53	Article	2011
Creating 64-bit applications with Delphi XE2 - theme XE2	Jeremy North	18	64	Article	2011
kbmSQL – Structured Query Language for your memory table	Kim Madsen	18	72	Article	2011
High Level Multithreading	Primož Gabrijelcic	18	76	Article	2011
TMS Scripter Studio Pro	Bruno Fierens	18	81	Article	2011
FreePascal vectorial	Felipe Monteiro de Cavalho	18	90	Article	2011
The tale of the Nigthtingale	Detlef Overbeek	18	96	Article	2011
Using the Advantage Database Client Engine	Michael Van Canneyt	18	101	Article	2011
Introduction to Databases part 5: Configuring OLE DB Providers and ODBC Drivers	Cary Jensen	18	107	Article	2011
Delphi XE2 LiveBinding - theme XE2	Bob Swart	18	113	Article	2011
DataSnap connectivity for iOS using Delphi XE2 and FireMonkey	Anders Ohlsson	19	6	Article	2011
Creating a simple webserver in Lazarus	Michael Van Canneyt	19	16	Article	2011
Using Amazon S3 in Delphi XE2	Marco Cantù	19	21	Article	2011
Creating a Database program from scratch - 2	Detlef Overbeek	19	29	Article	2011
Writing New Components in Lazarus, Part 4	Howard Page-Clark	19	37	Article	2011
TMS MultiTouch SDK	Bruno Fierens	19	46	Article	2011
FireMonkey Containers and Frames	Bob Swart	19	53	Article	2011
Introduction to Databases Part 6: TClientDataSet	Cary Jensen	19	56	Article	2011
The new Lazarus for Android	Felipe Monteiro de Carvalho	20	4	Article	2011
Q&A Special Hint CueBanner	Henk Schreij	20	14	Article	2011
The XFont Class	David Dirkse	20	15	Article	2011
3D geometry development	BJ Rao	20	20	Article	2011
Q&A Determine the latitude and longitude of an address	Henk Schreij	20	23	Article	2011
Writing New Components in Lazarus, Part 4	Howard Page-Clark	20	24	Article	2011
Creating a Database program from scratch - 3	Detlef Overbeek	20	29	Article	2011
Introduction to Databases Part 7: dbExpress	Cary Jensen	20	39	Article	2011
Porting my Amazon S3 client to FireMonkey	Marco Cantù	20	45	Article	2011
Writing a component for iOS using Delphi XE2 & FireMonkey	Anders Ohlsson	20	49	Article	2011
TMS Instrumentation Workshop for FireMonkey	Bruno Fierens	20	51	Article	2011
kbmMW Remote Desktop	Kim Madsen	20	55	Article	2011
Telnet in Pascal	Felipe Monteiro de Carvalho	21	5	Article	2012
How to show formatted HTML text? And how to print?	Henk Schreij	21	12	Article	2012
Developing an Outlook Social Provider	Andrey Terekhov	21	13	Article	2012
How to use the Format function?	Henk Schreij	21	18	Article	2012
Creating a Delphi database application for Mac OS X	Tim Opsteeg	21	19	Article	2012
Working natively with ZIP archives in Windows using zipfldr.dll	Viacheslav Ryabinin	21	23	Article	2012
Using AnyDac in Delphi	Michael Van Canneyt	21	32	Article	2012
VCL Custom Styles – Part 1	Jeremy North	21	37	Article	2012
Introduction to Databases Part 8: dbExpress (continued)	Cary Jensen	21	43	Article	2012
Introduction to Debugging	Primož Gabrijelcic	21	50	Article	2012
Kinect or Xtion? GeNui !	Simon Stuart	21	56	Article	2012
DLL Hell, part 1: DLL redirection	Alexander Alexeev	22	6	Article	2012
Pump some Oxygene into your Android device with Oxygene for Java	Brian Long	22	8	Article	2012
AnyDAC macros and scripting	Michael Van Canneyt	22	19	Article	2012
VCL Custom Styles – Part 2	Jeremy North	22	24	Article	2012
Creating a Database program from scratch - 4	Detlef Overbeek	22	30	Article	2012
One of the hotest topics: XML and lately JSON...	Fikret Hasovic	22	34	Article	2012
Advanced debugging - Part 2	Primož Gabrijelcic	22	39	Article	2012
Object-Relational Mapping with TMS Aurelius	Wagner Landgraf	22	43	Article	2012
Using Excel functions in Delphi	Nikolay Bilfeld	22	49	Article	2012
Unit testing and ’TestGrip’	Marco Geuze	22	50	Article	2012
How to create a simple About screen? Questions and Answers	Henk Schreij	22	59	Article	2012
Writing Cross-Platform Code	Alexander Alexeev	23	8	Article	2012
Solving equations using Regula Falsi	Peter Bijlsma	23	14	Article	2012
Data-Aware FireMonkey Controls using LiveBindings	Cary Jensen	23	19	Article	2012
Advanced debugging Tips and Tricks	Primož Gabrijelcic	23	26	Article	2012
Extending TListBoxItem to customize list box behaviour	Jeremy North	23	29	Article	2012
Pascal for Internet	Primož Gabrijelcic	23	34	Article	2012
Pascal scores high notes	Siegfried Zuhr	23	39	Article	2012
Introducing TTMSFMXGrid	Bruno Fierens	23	43	Article	2012
Delphi XE2, iOS and SQLite	Bob Swart	23	49	Article	2012
Meaningful colours or is it all gray?	David Dirkse	23	52	Article	2012
How to develop n-tier applications for iOS using kbmMW	Roger Nyberg	23	55	Article	2012
Interview with Kim Madsen	Detlef Overbeek	24	5	Article	2012
Sending mails using Lazarus	Michael Van Canneyt	24	10	Article	2012
Interview with Dmitry Arefiev	Detlef Overbeek	24	19	Article	2012
Smart Mobile Studio	Jørn E. Angeltveit	24	29	Article	2012
Interview with Marco Cantu	Detlef Overbeek	24	33	Article	2012
FireMonkey in Delphi XE3: FM2	Marco Cantù	24	36	Article	2012
HTML 5	Bob Swart	24	49	Article	2012
Interview with Michael Rozlog	Detlef Overbeek	24	52	Article	2012
XE3 Style Designer	Jeremy North	24	56	Article	2012
Burgler detection using Lazarus	Michael Van Canneyt	24	62	Article	2012
Supporting new android features in old android versions with Oxygene	Brian Long	24	68	Article	2012
Delphi XE3 Helper Types	Bob Swart	24	76	Article	2012
Interview with Marc Hoffman	Detlef Overbeek	24	79	Article	2012
Introduction to Databases Part 9: Overview of DataSnap	Cary Jensen	24	83	Article	2012
Software taxes - storage	Alexander Alexeev	24	87	Article	2012
Interview with David I. (Intersimone)	Detlef Overbeek	24	96	Article	2012
The Delphi History	Detlef Overbeek	24	101	Article	2012
From Delphi to the cloud	Bruno Fierens	24	106	Article	2012
Interview with Bruno Fierens	Detlef Overbeek	24	111	Article	2012
kbmMW as a RTMP media server	Kim Madsen	24	114	Article	2012
Lazarus and dabatases	Michael Van Canneyt	24	117	Article	2012
Match5, a self learning board game	David Dirkse	25	11	Article	2012
Programming in Smart: Application Design	Primož Gabrijelcic	25	19	Article	2012
TMS FlexCel for VCL and FireMonkey	Adrian Gallero	25	26	Article	2012
Delphi IDE Tips	Brian Long	25	31	Article	2012
DataSnap: DBX vs. REST	Bob Swart	25	40	Article	2012
Crowd Funding	BJ.Rao	25	43	Article	2012
Displaying video files using Free Pascal and Lazarus	Michael Van Canneyt	25	52	Article	2012
High performance virtual filesystems with kbmMW	Kim Madsen	25	58	Article	2012
Introduction to Databases Part 10: IP-Based DataSnap	Cary Jensen	26	7	Article	2012
How to prune a tree	David Dirkse	26	16	Article	2012
How to display a YouTube clip?	Henk Schreij	26	22	Article	2012
Programming in Smart: Supporting Multiple Resolutions	Primož Gabrijelcic	26	32	Article	2012
HTML5 Builder DataSnap Clients	Bob Swart	26	36	Article	2012
Object serialization using kbmMW	Kim Madsen	26	52	Article	2012
Introduction to thread programming in Lazarus	Michael Van Canneyt	27	4	Article	2013
Introduction to Databases Part 11: DataSnap Filters and Security	Cary Jensen	27	13	Article	2013
Electronic document processing tools for Delphi made by Gnostice	Grish Patil	27	23	Article	2013
Use of the "absolute" function abs(..)	David Dirkse	27	36	Article	2013
Development for lazarus	Joost van der Sluis	27	41	Article	2013
What is polymorphism?	Vsevolod Leonov	27	48	Article	2013
Creating and using kbmMW as an Ajax back-end server	Benno Evers	27	52	Article	2013
NEW AND ENHANCED FEATURES IN DELPHI XE4	Editor	28	4	Article	2013
Alternative datastreams (ADS) (better inifile)	Jean Pierre Hoefnagel	28	14	Article	2013
First Look at FireDAC	Cary Jensen	28	16	Article	2013
Writing UI-Independent Code with Anonymous Methods	Marco Cantù	28	18	Article	2013
Introduction to Databases Part 12: A DataSnap Client	Cary Jensen	28	23	Article	2013
Programming in Smart: Refactoring	Primož Gabrijelcic	28	34	Article	2013
Development for lazarus part two	Joost van der Sluis	28	42	Article	2013
Delphi XE4 iOS DataSnap Clients	Bob Swart	28	52	Article	2013
Intro to kbmMW connectivity package 'Spider'	Fikret Hasovic	28	57	Article	2013
Polymorphism in practice	Alexander Alexeev	29	4	Article	2013
The Raspberry Pi, Pi Vision and Lazarus/FPC	BJ Rao	29	14	Article	2013
FPC Hackathon 2013	Michael Van Canneyt	29	22	Article	2013
UniDAC — unique components for DB application development for iOS	Boris Matkov	29	25	Article	2013
1. Pascal Fundamentals: TActionlist, TImagelist and Image editor	Michael Van Canneyt	29	31	Article	2013
2. Pascal Fundamentals: How long is a pice of string: Short strings and Ansi strings	Howard Page-Clark	29	37	Article	2013
Smart Mobile Studio - Multiple categories	Primož Gabrijelcic	29	41	Article	2013
Developing a virtual world	Cary Jensen	29	45	Article	2013
The TMS iCL	By Bruno Fierens	29	51	Article	2013
Serialization using kbmMW	Fikret Hasovic	29	55	Article	2013
Creating an IOS application	Jeremy North	30	4	Article	2013
Introduction Database Development Part 13: Connecting to Data with FireDac	Cary Jensen	30	18	Article	2013
Pascal Fundamentals: Understanding components Part 3: The TListBox component	Howard Page-Clark	30	28	Article	2013
Smart Mobile Studio	Jørn Einar Angeltveit	30	41	Article	2013
Programming with the leap motion	Michael Van Canneyt	30	47	Article	2013
Lazarus Closed Source Packages	Mattias Gaertner	30	56	Article	2013
Support for Word and LibreOffice Text Documents - FPVectorial	Felipe Monteiro de Carvalho	30	60	Article	2013
Delphi XE5 and FireMonkey for Android	Bob Swart	30	69	Article	2013
Sciencepalooza Fact: Man causes the earth heating	Yuri Matteman	30	74	Article	2013
The kbmMW authorization manager	Kim Madsen	30	75	Article	2013
Designing an API: common mistakes	Alexander Alexeev	31/32	8	Article	2013
Newest Leap developments	Michael Van Canneyt	31/32	21	Article	2013
3D Printing	Bj Rao	31/32	26	Article	2013
Kinect ?!	Michael Van Canneyt	31/32	33	Article	2013
Smart Mobile Studio 2.0	Primož Gabrijelcic	31/32	41	Article	2013
A simple superscript text editor	David Dirkse	31/32	50	Article	2013
Using GEO services in Delphi applications with TMS components	Bruno Fierens	31/32	57	Article	2013
Correcting a bad API design:	Alexander Alexeev	31/32	65	Article	2013
The maXbox Pure Code	Max Kleiner	31/32	77	Article	2013
Programming Bitmap Rotation	David Dirkse	31/32	98	Article	2013
Introduction to Model, View and View Model (MVVM) and the Caliburn Micro for Delphi framework	Jeroen Pluimers	31/32	102	Article	2013
kbmFMX for XE5 (android)	Fikret Hasovic	31/32	113	Article	2013
maXbox Starter 5 Start with DLL A Library for All	Max Kleiner	33	5	Article	2014
Suite Rays components	Rik Smit	33	14	Article	2014
Steps in MindScape AppView Step-By-Step	Jeroen Pluimers	33	26	Article	2014
Programming Truth Table reduction	David Dirkse	33	46	Article	2014
Databases for XE6	Cary Jensen	33	59	Article	2014
Updating DotTapper	Jeremy North	33	53	Article	2014
Six new ready to use components!	Fikret Hasovic	33	65	Article	2014
Ode To the Code	Cary Jensen	34	4	Article	2014
Animation Lab for Android	Boin Mitov	34	5	Article	2014
All about understanding the RTTI / Attributes / Functional Programming	Detlef Overbeek	34	7	Article	2014
Raize Components Version 6PART II Continuation	Rik Smit	34	18	Article	2014
QR (Quick Response) Codes	Max Kleiner	34	24	Article	2014
Image Compression	David Dirkse	34	29	Article	2014
Review : Documentation Insight by DevJet Software	Jeremy North	34	36	Article	2014
Introduction Local SQL with FireDAC	Cary Jensen	34	41	Article	2014
Unit testing - test driven development	Michael Van Canneyt	34	46	Article	2014
Serving an off the shelf Content Management System	Kim Madsen	34	53	Article	2014
Smart Mobile Studio: Where to use it and with what? Comment	Christan Budde	35	16	Article	2014
Building simple native applications for Windows	Christan Budde	35	17	Article	2014
node.js on a Raspberry Pi	Christan Budde	35	19	Article	2014
Debugging Techniques in Lazarus	Howard Page Clark	35	23	Article	2014
Start with GEO Maps	Max Kleiner	35	40	Article	2014
A 3D Tic-Tac-Toe game	David Dirkse	35	45	Article	2014
Blazing Performance with FireDAC Array DML	Cary Jensen	35	52	Article	2014
Creating custom edit descendants in XE7	Jeremy North	35	57	Article	2014
Leap Motion Version 2	Michael Van Canneyt	35	62	Article	2014
KBMMW and messaging (the WIB)	Fikret Hasovic	35	64	Article	2014
A WYSIWYG math editor	David Dirkse	36	10	Article	2014
Blue Tooth	Jeremy North	36	16	Article	2014
3D Printing Lab (maxbox)	Max Kleiner	36	23	Article	2014
Converting Delphi to Lazarus and Vice Versa	Editor	36	28	Article	2014
Differences between Delphi and Lazarus	Editor	36	28	Article	2014
Lazarus for beginners: Starting your first program	Howard Page-Clark	36	35	Article	2014
TMS XData and TMS Aurelius – Learning Example	Wagner Landgraf	36	40	Article	2014
UpdateMode and FireDAC DataSets	Cary Jensen	36	50	Article	2014
AMQP (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol)	Fikret Hasovic	36	54	Article	2014
Cloning FDMemTable Cursors	Cary Jensen	37/38	13	Article	2014
Floating points? -	David Dirkse	37/38	20	Article	2014
The Leap Motion Visualizer	Dmitry Boyarintsev	37/38	23	Article	2014
Creating Applications for Mobile: How to make money with apps	Mark Wilcox	37/38	31	Article	2014
Migration to FastReport: How easy can it be ?	Denis Zubov	37/38	37	Article	2014
TIOBE Index for January 2015	Editor	37/38	45	Article	2014
Apple’s Guidelines for Creating and Publishing	Editor	37/38	48	Article	2014
Google’s Guidelines for Creating and Publishing Android Apps	Editor	37/38	53	Article	2014
Google’s help for developers for Android	Editor	37/38	55	Article	2014
Lazarus for beginners 3	Howard Page-Clark	37/38	62	Article	2014
WYSIWYG formatted: text & images editor for VCL & FireMonkey	Bruno Fierens	37/38	71	Article	2014
Regular Expression Report	Max Kleiner	37/38	78	Article	2014
Regular Expressions Explained / Programming	Editor	37/38	88	Article	2014
Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi	Siegfried Zuhr	37/38	89	Article	2014
Using Free Pascal to create Android applications	Michael Van Canneyt	37/38	104	Article	2014
Having fun with Delphi and AMQP	Kim Madsen	37/38	112	Article	2014
ClientDataSets and FDMemTables Compared: Part 1	Cary Jensen	39	11	Article	2015
Accessing Preferences and Databases in Android (FPC)	Michael Van Canneyt	39	22	Article	2015
Painting 3D Lissajous figures	David Dirkse	39	31	Article	2015
Checking your Android device is ready for development	Stephen Ball	39	36	Article	2015
Interbase Change Views	Stephen Ball	40	5	Article	2015
From Delphi to Delphi, overview of the Delphi history	Editor	40	8	Article	2015
Delphi - the city	Editor	40	13	Article	2015
Why the name Delphi?	Editor	40	14	Article	2015
Introduction to FlatBox2D for Delphi XE8	Pawel Glowacki	40	16	Article	2015
ClientDataSets and FDMemTables Compared: Part 2	Cary Jensen	40	24	Article	2015
Start with Function Testing (maXbox)	Max Kleiner	40	31	Article	2015
Working with Bluetooth beacons in Delphi XE8	Jeremy North	40	40	Article	2015
Security And Safety In Applications	Andrea Raimondi	41	5	Article	2015
Beginning Of Time... The Water Clock	Editor	41	9	Article	2015
The New Lazarus 1.4	Editor	41	14	Article	2015
Security In Applications: Password Handling	Andrea Raimondi	41	18	Article	2015
In Remembrance Of Alan Turing	Editor	41	23	Article	2015
Rest Clients: Using The Google Apis In Free Pascal	Michael Van Canneyt	41	25	Article	2015
Arduino: The Visuino Project - Part 1	Boian Mitov	41	37	Article	2015
Working With Google Merchants Rating Data Using kbmmw	Kim Madsen	41	43	Article	2015
Quantum Computing	Editor	42	5	Article	2015
Thales Of Miletus - A Pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher	Editor	42	9	Article	2015
Arduino: The Visuino Project - Part 2	Boian Mitov	42	14	Article	2015
Getting Started With The TMS Planner For Firemonkey	Bruno Fierens	42	22	Article	2015
Mapping Using Delphi	Peter Van Der Sman	42	28	Article	2015
Log, Debug And Audit The kbmmw Way	Kim Madsen	42	33	Article	2015
Free Pascal Compiler 3.0 In Preparation	Michael Van Canneyt	43	6	Article	2015
Overview Of Delphi To Delphi History	Editor	43	8	Article	2015
Pythagoras Of Samos, Not The Inventor Of The A^2 + B^2 = C^2	Editor	43	9	Article	2015
Arduino: The Visuino Project - Part 3	Boian Mitov	43	12	Article	2015
Fast Reports VCL In A Nutshell	John Kuiper	43	30	Article	2015
Brand Your Own Remote Desktop Solution	Kim Madsen	43	40	Article	2015
Overview Of Delphi To Delphi History	Editor	44	6	Article	2015
Euclides	Editor	44	7	Article	2015
An Agep Uzzle	David Dirkse	44	8	Article	2015
Arduino: The Visuino Project - Part 4	Boian Mitov	44	12	Article	2015
Database Workbench 5	Peter Van Der Sman	44	28	Article	2015
Tips And Tricks With KBM Memtable	Kim Madsen	44	39	Article	2015
Overview Of Delphi To Delphi History	Editor	45/46	8	Article	2015
Plato And Platinic Solids	Editor	45/46	9	Article	2015
A Simple Editor For In-Line Help	David Dirkse	45/46	12	Article	2015
FindFirst/FindNext And The Power Of Habits	Heiko Rompel	45/46	18	Article	2015
Android Programming In Free Pascal Networking External Code And Threads	Michael Van Canneyt	45/46	20	Article	2015
Rad Studio 10 Seattle Introduction	Editor	45/46	29	Article	2015
Using Azure Translator Services With Delphi	Stephen Ball	45/46	44	Article	2015
How To Use Fmx: Tframestand Easily Use Tframe(S) In Fmx Applications	Andrea Magni	45/46	54	Article	2015
Delphi Building Blocks - Advanced Collections	Boian Mitov	45/46	62	Article	2015
Maxbox Starter 18 Start With Arduino Programmingv 3.1	Max Kleiner	45/46	72	Article	2015
Archimedes	Editor	47	5	Article	2015
Installing Lazarus On Mac Os X	Michaël Van Canneyt	47	8	Article	2015
Using “Raspberry Pi” As A Flexible Beacon	Danny Wind	47	12	Article	2015
The Towers Of Hanoi	David Dirkse	47	19	Article	2015
Presenting A Fast & Feature-Rich Multicolumn Treeview For Delphi	Bruno Fierens	47	23	Article	2015
The Enhanced Rtti (Runtime Type Library)	Boian Mitov	47	29	Article	2015
Getting Things Done At Time, Every Time	Kim Madsen	47	37	Article	2015
A Microseconds Counter Component In Delphi	David Dirkse	48	5	Article	2015
Watch Your Calories Using The Nutrition Monitor!	Peter Bijlsma	48	7	Article	2015
Custom Forms In Delphi	Michaël Van Canneyt	48	19	Article	2015
Installing Lazarus On Linux Mint	Michaël Van Canneyt	48	26	Article	2015
Connect Iot With The Cloud Using Tms Lcl Cloud Pack	Bruno Fierens	48	30	Article	2015
Time Is On My Side - Maxbox	Max Kleiner	48	36	Article	2015

Enjoy - Semper Fi
Gunny Mike

What Every Delphi Developer Should Know About Writing for Windows and Mac

I have always wanted a Mac version of my software. So, in September, 2011 when Delphi XE2 was launched  I was excited to finally get my chance to create software for both Windows and Mac. Has it happened. Nope not yet.

When it comes to software development I'm a slow starter. Perhaps I think too much. Perhaps I try and anticipate all the possibilities. Perhaps I'm just afraid of making huge mistakes, going down the wrong road and having to rip it all up only to start all over again.

Well, it's happening again, the slow start. However, this time it's not because I'm thinking too much it's because I've been thinking wrong. I have programmed my brain to think in terms of Windows. I need to unlearn how to think like a Windows developer and re-think like a cross-platform developer.

Fortunately there some great resources out there. I received permission from the editor of Blaise Pascal Magazine to reprint the following article in it's entirety.

Semper Fi,
Gunny Mike

Reprinted with permission from the editor of Blaise Pascal Magazine
http://www.blaisepascal.eu/
Issue 23 / March 2012

Writing Cross-Platform Code 

By Alexander Alexeev

How can you write Pascal code that is truly crossplatform? This article explains general techniques and best practice in writing code that will run on several platforms natively (that is, without use of a virtual machine or a web-based interface).

A few phrases may need clarification. By FMX I mean the FireMonkey framework in Delphi XE2 or later. The host system means both the hardware platform and operating system which is running your programming environment and compiler. The target system/platform means the hardware platform and operating system for which you are creating an executable program. The simplest case is where the host system and the target platform are identical (but of course that is not crossplatform).

What is cross-platform code?

Cross-platform software is “software that works on more than one hardware platform and / or operating system” - Wikipedia.

Writing successful cross-platform code requires that you consider three aspects:

• The Compiler
• The API / framework
• The User Interface

The Compiler

Firstly, to create code that works on several platforms, you'll certainly need a compiler that can generate code for those platforms. There are two possible scenarios in compiling code for a specific target platform: either the compiler can run on the same platform or it can run on a different one. Examples of the first case would be Kylix and Free Pascal – both of these compilers can ru non Linux and compile for Linux. Examples of the second case are Delphi XE2 and (again) Free Pascal – both can run on Windows,while compiling for MacOS.

The API and/or framework

You need to consider more than the mere capabilities of your compiler. For cross-platform code it's very important how you rcode will interact with the environment in which it runs. Firstly,does it use the system API? For example, if your program uses the Windows API, it will run on any (hardware) platform, where Windows itself works. You may need to recompile the program for this platform (without needing to change the code). However, it will notwork under Linux, say. Conversely, if you use Linux function calls,then your program will run on any hardware platform running Linux (again, after recompilation), but it will not work under Windows.

An alternative to having your code make direct system is to use a special layer: a framework library or run-time library (RTL).The idea is that you make function calls to this auxiliary library,but do not call the operating system directly. The library translates your requests into calls to specific operating system functions.Then your code will run on any system and hardware platform supported by the compiler and the libraries it uses.

For example:

• VCL supports Win16 (Delphi 1 only), Win32, and Win64 (only Delphi XE2+).
• CLX (Kylix 1-3, Delphi 6-7) supports Win32 and Linux.
• FMX (only Delphi XE2+) supports Win32, Win64, MacOS, and iOS.

This means that if you write your code using only the VCL, it will run on Win32 and Win64 (and in the case of Delphi 1 on Win16), but not on Linux, MacOS or iOS.

Also note that these libraries have different capabilities. For example, Qt (on which CLX is based) is a broad framework. That is, it contains functions for many different purposes: the interface, printing, file system, IPC, and so on.

On the other hand, the VCL includes support only for the user interface (not for IPC and so on).

The User Interface

Because Delphi has traditionally been a rapid development environment for graphical user interfaces, the user interface is the focus for most libraries and frameworks in Delphi.

Of course, if you choose a cross-platform library that supports multiple platforms, then you can create a user interface on each platform with the same code.

The only problem here is that the standard controls on different platforms look and behave differently. And if you replace them with generic controls provided by your cross-platform library – then both visually and behaviour-wise they will differ from the standard operating system controls. Your application will look "foreign" and "alien".

A hybrid approach is possible, in which you use a universal crossplatform library, but the library itself creates native controls for each of its platforms, instead of using 'universal' controls.

This has the advantages that your application now has a native look. The disadvantage is in the consequent complexity of development and testing, since you must take into account all the differences between the various target platforms as you develop and test.

The VCL is an example of a library which is wired to its platform. FMX is an example of library with universal controls. Examples of libraries with adaptable controls are CLX (Kylix) and the LCL (Lazarus).

Moreover, differences in the positioning and behaviour of controls between platforms is just the tip of the iceberg. The whole concept of “building an interface” may differ between various platforms. A simple example would be the order of the [OK], [Cancel] and [Help] buttons in dialogs.

Windows and MacOS each uses the reverse of the other's placement order. MacOS programs share a system-wide menu. On Windows this is simply not available. One platform can be focussed on mouse and keyboard interaction, another on gesture and touch. And a UI for a 21-inch monitor is substantially different from one for a PDA with a 640x400 pixel resolution.

Conclusions

You can conclude that the term "cross-platform" has, in a sense, two almost opposite meanings. On the one hand, cross-platform code is universal code which once written, will compile on multiple platforms. On the other hand, cross-platform code is code that takes into account the specific peculiarities of each platform.

The first approach (the so-called WOCA - Write Once, Compile Anywhere approach) gives us:

• Diminished importance of the individual platform. Once code is written it is suitable for any compiler-supported platform
• Limitation to generic solutions. You cannot use a specific feature (read: a strong point) of a particular platform 
• A user interface that appears to be "universal" and "foreign" 
• A complex implementation – it is both difficult and expensive to develop; and you are restricted to using only generic methods, and cannot make specialized calls

The second, platform-sensitive approach yields these features:

• You cannot build your executable for the new platform until you have adapted your code for it 
• You can make full use of any specific platform's features and advantages 
• Your user interface will look native on each platform 
• A complex implementation:
  – it is both difficult and expensive to develop;
  and you need to write individual code for each platform 

These are the extremes of the two opposing approaches, with different development costs and different results. Usually, realworld cross-platform applications combine both approaches in varying degrees.

When do you need cross-platform code?

Cross-platform code gives you the opportunity to distribute your application to new markets: to other hardware platforms and operating systems. The answer to how useful or necessary this is depends primarily on your application and its target audience. Cross-platform application development is always difficult. Is there any benefit from working on new platforms? Would it be easier to use emulation or a web-based interface?

It should be noted that in the not-too-distant past, the cross-platform issue was not so acute as it is today. Windows was the dominant platform for personal computers and x86-32 was the dominant hardware platform. If you wrote a Win32 application you covered 90% of your potential customers (both personal and corporate). And in reality very few people completed versions of their applications for other platforms.

Today we have Win64 and ARM, and tablets and PDAs are playing an increasingly important rôle not only for ordinary home users, but also for corporate customers. Apple's iOS, as well as Google with Android, has captured a significant share of the mobile device market. Although Windows is still in a strong position for desktop applications, the idea of targeting Windows only no longer seems like a lucrative approach for many applications.

If you're writing a desktop application, Windows is still the main option. Of course, versions for MacOS and Linux are also sometimes helpful. Especially when you consider the differences in popularity of different platforms in different countries.

For server applications you should first consider various options for Unix (Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, etc.), followed immediately by Windows, but you can forget about MacOS.

Mobile applications (for tablets and PDAs) are the most difficult to decide about since there are three major platforms: iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. Other platforms are much less relevant today (Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Symbian).

Generally you will see various possible combinations in practice: Code is written for one platform using a specialized library, and direct calls to an API (for example: a VCL application for Win32). There is one platform and it's easy. Other platforms are not considered, or used only with an emulator. Often it's easier to use an emulator, and it gives acceptable results. Emulation is acceptable for the corporate customer, and for customised and highly specialized software; but not for boxed products.

Code is written for one platform, using cross-platform tools (for example: an FMX application for Win32). The intention here is either to hold open a future hope ("someday we'll do a version for MacOS"), or to use more powerful features of cross-platform libraries (such as hardware acceleration for 3D/2D). Code is written for two or three platforms, with minor differences, using direct calls to the APIs (for example: a VCL application for both Win32 and Win64). Typically this is used to exploit the limited adaptation needed between closely related platforms.

Code is written for two or three different platforms using a single-purpose solution (for example: a VCL Win32/Win64 application, with an FMX application for MacOS). This is a rare approach because of the high development costs. But it is the approach of choice when you need the maximum number of native features on each platform. The main objective in this case is to maximize use of 'universal' code which can be shared between platforms. As a rule, this approach targets no more than three platforms (selecting only the most popular three).

Code is written for multiple platforms using cross-platform tools (for example: an FMX application for Win32/Win64/MacOS/iOS). Native interface and platform capabilities are sacrificed for universality. This route is chosen when you need to reach the maximum number of customers, even at the risk of compromising your application's ease of use.

You code a web-based application.
Pro: it works wherever there is web-browser.
Con: a simplified web-interface often causes discomfort for users.

General Principles 

First you should select the target platform(s). You can do this on the basis of the recommendations above. Then you need to choose the appropriate development tools for these platforms (compiler, libraries and frameworks).

After settling on the list of platforms and development tools, you can write code just as you would do for a single platform. But you'll have to check the written code for each selected platform. You cannot just write generic code and expect it to work identically on all platforms. There will always be both small and more significant differences. Even between the highly compatible Win32 and Win64 platforms there are many differences and consequential pitfalls!

To develop and test code it is not necessary have a real machine or device - virtual machines and emulators are often sufficient. You need only one (quite powerful) computer and a few virtual machines - one for each platform (without host system). Of course, a final test on real hardware can be helpful.

As an alternative to virtual machines you can utilize a multi-boot machine with several different operating systems installed on a single physical machine, providing a choice among systems to load at start-up (when the operating system boots). Clearly, this is not the most convenient option (since a restart is required to change platform), and it is not always possible (you cannot dual-boot iOS and Windows), but this is still a working solution for "live" testing on a machine with limited resources.

Conditional compilation and platform-dependent code
In most cases you will not be able to write completely generic code. Often, your code will include some direct API calls. How do you proceed in these cases?

You accomplish this by using conditional compilation directives.

You tell the compiler not to compile certain code when a particular condition is met. Usually the condition is the presence or absence of specific markers (so-called conditional compilation symbols). This is done by using {$IFDEF}/{$IFNDEF}/{$IF} directives.  The conditional compilation symbol will either be specified (defined), or not specified (not defined).

That is, it is a binary feature: yes/no, on/off.

Each symbol will be checked for definition (existence) and depending on the test result the selected code is compiled (or not). For example:

procedure DoSomething;
begin
{$IFDEF DEBUG}
OutputDebugString('DoSomething called');
{$ENDIF}
// ...
// DoSomething's code
// ...
end;

Note that this choice is made at compile time (design time). That is , If the symbol DEBUG is defined, then DoSomething will look like this:

procedure DoSomething;
begin
OutputDebugString('DoSomething called');
// ...
// DoSomething's code
// ...
end;

If DEBUG is not defined, then the procedure becomes the following:

procedure DoSomething;
begin
// ...
// DoSomething's code
// ...
end;

In other words, the "filtered out code" will not appear at all in the
resulting application.

By the way, conditional compilation symbols are case insensitive.

Conditional compilation symbols can be defined in several ways:

• Predefined – meaning that they are defined by the compiler. For example, WINDOWS, WIN32, DCC, CONSOLE, etc. 
• You can specify them in the project options.
  For example, DEBUG. 
• You can define them in your source code using
  {$DEFINE Symbol} directive. 
• You can define them in an include file (.inc file which is linked through the {$IFileName.inc} directive).
  Formally, this is identical to the previous method, but is used more often. 
• You can define them at compile-time by passing a special command line option to the compiler: -D Symbol.

You can use predefined conditional compilation symbols to compile platform-specific code for different platforms. Various IDEs define different sets of conditional compilation symbols. A new version of an IDE may add new symbols. The same symbol can be used by one IDE and not be used in another IDE; or it may have different meanings in the two different IDEs; or (if you're lucky) it might be identical in both IDEs. 

For these reasons, real projects rarely use predefined conditional compilation symbols directly. Most often, the project adds an include file (with the .inc extension), which establishes universal symbols for conditional compilation, adapted for each IDE. This file is then included at the beginning of each unit of the project (through the {$IFileName.inc}). After that, your code can use new "beautiful" and universal symbols. If you do not want to write such a file yourself, you can use the file jedi.inc file, which can be downloaded from here:

http://projectjedi.svn.sf.net/viewvc/projectjedi/trunk/shared/include/jedi.inc?view=log

(click "Download" next to the "Links to HEAD")

So, as a result, you have three options for dealing with the platformdependent code:

1. You put platform-specific code directly into the source code and surround it with conditional compilation directives. This option is suitable only for the simplest cases, and is not recommended.

2. You offload all platform-dependent code to a (single) separate unit. Inside the unit you use conditional compilation directives to generate code for the different platforms, and the outer (caller) code can simply call the functions and classes from your unit, without having to use conditional compilation.
Pro: the caller is universal and does not contain any platform-specific parts.
Con: the platform-dependent unit is full of conditional compilation directives.

3. You offload all platform-dependent code to several different units with different names - one unit for each platform. Each unit has the same interface section and different implementation sections. Within each unit you write the code for the specific platform without the use of conditional compilation directives. The recommended format for the unit name is: PlatformName.UnitName.pas. The caller will connect to the correct platform's unit by using conditional compilation directives, and the code will call the functions and classes directly, without using conditional compilation.
Pro: the code is better structured through not being cluttered with conditional compilation directives.
Cons: the calling code still contains conditional compilation directives (inside its uses clause), and it will be harder to add a new platform. In any case, here are a few tips on the use of conditional compilation for platform-specific code:

- Do not assume a fixed set of platforms
Bad:

{$IFDEF MSWINDOWS}
// Code for Windows
{$ELSE}
// Code for MacOS
{$ENDIF}

Better:

{$IFDEF MSWINDOWS}
// Code for Windows
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF MACOS}
// Code for MacOS
{$ENDIF}

Ideal:

// Code for (very) old Delphi
{$DEFINE UNKNOWN_PLATFORM}
{$IFDEF MSWINDOWS}
{$UNDEF UNKNOWN_PLATFORM}
// Code for Windows
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF MACOS}
{$UNDEF UNKNOWN_PLATFORM}
// Code for MacOS
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF UNKNOWN_PLATFORM}
{$MESSAGE FATAL 'Unknown platform'}
{$ENDIF}

// The modern (compact) version:
{$IF DEFINED(MSWINDOWS)}
// Code for Windows
{$ELSEIF DEFINED(MACOS)}
// Code for MacOS
{$ELSE}
{$MESSAGE FATAL 'Unknown platform'}
{$IFEND}

- Do not confuse symbols like WIN32 and MSWINDOWS, MACOS and MACOS32, etc. Symbols with suffixes 32/64 are combinations of a common symbol (like MSWINDOWS, MACOS, etc.) with the symbol for the CPU (like CPU386, CPUX64, etc.).
 - Do not use a binding to the compiler version.

 Bad:

{$IFDEF VER230}
// Some code for a specific version of Delphi
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF COMPILER6_UP}//
// Some code for Delphi 6 and above
{$ENDIF}

Good:

// In our .inc-file:
{$IFDEF VER230}
{$DEFINE HAS_FEATURE_X}
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF COMPILER6_UP}
{$DEFINE HAS_FEATURE_Y}
{$ENDIF}
// In real code:
{$IFDEF HAS_FEATURE_X}
// Code that runs with the X feature
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF HAS_FEATURE_Y}
// Code that runs with the Y feature
{$ENDIF}

Emulation of source code 

I want to stress the importance of source code emulation by devoting a separate section to it. It involves the following process: instead of writing generic functions from scratch, you write versions of existing functions for other platforms. For example the LoadLibrary function is a feature of the Windows API which does not exist on other platforms.

However, it is clear that the functionality of loading shared libraries is present on other platforms. Therefore, there must be analogous functions to the LoadLibrary function on other platforms. This means that we must be able to write our own LoadLibrary function, which will call the necessary function(s) of another target platform and, thus, will emulate the behaviour of the original Windows function. Incidentally Delphi does this, and many Windows API functions work on other platforms because they have been implemented in the System and SysUtils units (only for other platforms; under Windows they are just imported).

You can use this approach too. Use a single universal unit (or a unit dedicated to each platform you support, as described above). Then you may not need to change your Windows API coding - because the Windows API will work on another platform through your emulation (at least to the extent that you're implementing it).

A similar technique can be used to compensate for differences between various Delphi versions and other compilers. Simply create a new unit and add there all the features you want that are missing from certain compilers or IDEs.

Platform specifics

When you write cross-platform code (whether universal code for all platforms or specialized code for a particular platform) you should always keep in mind the differences between the platforms.

File system

• In some systems, the file names are case sensitive, in others they are not. Use the function SameFileName to compare file names for specific platforms
• Unix-like systems use / (forward slash) to separate file path components, and the Windows-like systems - use \ (backslash) (although almost all file functions understand both characters). Use the constant PathSep and functions like ExtractFilePath, and IncludeTrailingPathDelimiter to manipulate file paths.
• Unix uses - or -- for command-line options, Windows uses /.
• Windows has both alpha-character drive names and UNCnames. Unix does not use drive letters, it uses mounting instead.
• Different platforms allow different sets of acceptable characters in file paths. File naming rules also differ. It makes sense to normalize all names to the canonical form.
• Most popular systems use the same conventions for the current and parent directory (. an .. ) and also for file masks (* and ? ).
• Windows uses file extensions for known file types. Unix mainly relies on the file attributes of executable files, and extensions are used less frequently.
• In Windows, most files have two names - long and short. This may come as a surprise!
• Almost all modern systems have different versions of file links (hard, symbolic, etc.) which have their own characteristics in each system.
• In some cases, directories can be files. Be very careful when checking for the existence of a file with FileExists - make sure (by documentation or experimentally) that the function works as expected. The same is true for file references.
• File access rights and opening modes are implemented in different ways and with different semantics, but it seems with similar functionality.

“Known Folders”

• "Known Folders" is the phrase used by the Windows API, but it can be applied to other systems.
• "Well-known folder" refers to a directory or a virtual path to a predefined folder which has system-wide implications - such as the system folder, your profile folder, the program folder, the settings folder, and so on.

Almost all programs work with known locations - to load the configuration, store data, etc. Therefore, they should be able to get the path to these folders. In spite of being "known", the locations of these folders are often not fixed but rather set during installation of the system (sometimes – or later when used).

Therefore, systems have special features to obtain paths to such folders. Of course, these functions are specific for each system. Moreover, the full set of possible known folders is different too.

You can get some of these folders using Delphi. For example via TPath.GetHomePath. For all those folders that do not have a ready-to-use implementation in Delphi you will have to write your own code.

Finally, here are some examples of important folders. This is not comprehensive, since exact details depend on the precise version of the operating system.

For Windows:

• \Users (Documents and Settings) - root folder for the user profiles.
  Each user has their personal folder here, which takes their name.
• \Users\UserName\Documents – the user's documents
• \Users\UserName\Application Data - applications' data
• \Users\UserName\Application Data\Local\Temp\ - folder for temporary files
• \Program Files - installed applications
• \Windows - system folder
• \Windows\System32 (SysWOW64/SysNative)
  - common components

For Linux:

• \boot, \bin and \sbin - boot software
• \home - root folder for the user's documents.
  Each user has their personal folder which takes their name.
• \usr - installed programs (also structured in subdirectories)
• \lib - common components
• \etc - program configurations
• \var - temporary and frequently changed files (also structured in subdirectories)
• \mnt - mounted devices
• \proc - virtual file system,
  something similar to the Windows Registry

Further, it should be noted that some Unix systems do not have the concept of "application folder".

On these systems - ParamStr(0) and Application.ExeName sometimes cannot return the folder where the executable program is placed. For this reason applications in Unix often use a fixed installation location to be able to get their folders.

If the path can be changed, then it's better to store the path in a particular place. (This is how it's done in Windows: the program installer writes the program path as a predetermined path like \Software\AppName).

As you can see, despite some similarities, there are numerous differences.

Configuration, data and resources 

Across platforms there are both similarities and differences in placing data. The general similarities are: there is always a separation between the purely local (current user) and global (all users) data; roughly the same rules always apply (only an administrator can affect all users); user data is always separated from the program; read-only data (programs and master templates) is always separated from the re-writable data (configuration).

Now the differences: Windows application configuration data is often stored in the registry because it is easier and more efficient. Since there is no registry on other platforms, all other platforms store configuration in files (in differing formats for which there is no standard). This approach is also used in Windows as alternative to the registry.

Therefore, in general, if you eliminate the Windows registry from consideration (except when you cannot work without it), then all the usual recommendations and best practices for programs on Windows are also valid for other platforms - taking into account differences in the distribution of "well-known folders", of course.

For example, a local folder for your program data (read-write) on different systems can be (these are just examples, a specific value may vary):

• Windows 98: C:\Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\ProjectName\
• Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Application Data\ProjectName\
• Windows 7: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\ProjectName\
• Linux: /home/UserName/.config/ProjectName/
• MacOS: /Users/UserName/.config/ProjectName/

A global directory:

• Windows 98: C:\Program Files\ProjectName\
• Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All users\Local Settings\Application Data\ProjectName\
• Windows 7: C:\ProgramData\ProjectName\
• Linux: /etc/ProjectName/
• MacOS: /etc/ProjectName/

The main thing here is to have at hand a universal function to get paths to known folders.

Resources in executables are specific to Windows and have no direct counterpart on other platforms. You can replace the resources by storing data in files alongside the program. Functionally, this would be equivalent.

MacOS differs from both Unix and Windows in that MacOS applications are distributed in a so-called "application bundle", which contains everything necessary for the application.

Encoding

Modern Windows uses Unicode (UTF-16), and also provides ANSI-versions of most functions for backwards compatibility. Unix often uses UTF-8. Many systems use null-terminated strings (sometimes explicitly specifying their length).

Usually you do not need to think about these issues, unless you call the system functions directly. In the latter case, you need to cast the strings to the desired format. In recent Delphi versions coding for these issues is handled automatically. You do not need to manually convert strings - a simple assignment of strings between different formats is enough.

Text files

Different systems use different line separators for text strings. Sometimes it is CR + LF (#13#10), sometimes only LF (#10). Use the constant sLineBreak instead of character literals. You must be particularly careful when analyzing and breaking lines since line breaks have different lengths on different platforms. So it is best always to use ready-made functions.

If you exchange text data between platforms, you will need to be prepared to convert one format to another. You can normalize text with the function AdjustLineBreaks.

Another difference is the BOM (Byte Order Mark). Windows follows the Unicode standard by putting a BOM at the beginning of all Unicode files (UTF-8, UTF-16, etc.). But UTF-8 files in Unix often lack a BOM.

Date and time

Different systems store timestamps differently. Usually you do not care about the specifics, unless you are going to exchange data between the platforms (either via a network, or via files/documents). In the latter case, you need to select a date format and convert the date-time in this format to your platform and back.

As a hint, for a "portable" format you should select the format of your most popular platform which will eliminate the need to convert timestamps there.

Bitness

You need to take account of bitness all the time – both the system bitness and its data model for integers. In other words, you need to know on your platform how many bytes Integer and Pointer occupy. I will not dwell on this here, as I wrote extensively on this in a previous Win64 article in Blaise Pascal Magazine.

Byte order

The byte order (or endianness) depends on the processor. One byte (say, $41 ) is treated uniquely. But if you have two bytes in a row (say, $41 $10), the processor can interpret them either as $4010 or as $1041.

Endianness refers to the order in which bytes are stored. The term is taken from a story in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift about wars fought between those who thought eggs should be cracked on the Big End and those who insisted on the Little End. With chips, as with eggs, it doesn't really matter as long as you know which end is up.

Endianness

The first byte
(Lowest address)
The last byte
(Highest address)NoteBigHigh byteLow byte
It is easier to write - the numbers are written in the usual way: the high byte is on the "left" LittleLow byteHigh byte It is more convenient for calculations (carry) – the byte value increases with the address

Each specific hardware processor can be either Little Endian or Big Endian. However, some processors are so-called Bi-Endian (or Dual-Endian) supporting both modes, and allowing a mode switch (set).

Again, you should not worry about the byte order, unless you are operating on a single byte within an integer, or sharing data with other systems (via network or files).

Fortunately Windows always works as a LE (Little Endian) system - even with the BE-processors. But other systems (e.g. MacOS and Linux) can be Big Endian on certain hardware.

Assembler

When developing cross-platform code, you should avoid assembler like the plague because assembler is symbolic text for processor-specific hardware commands. That is, assembly code is always written for a specific processor. It is specific to that processor and is not portable to other platforms.

Therefore for cross-platform development less efficient universal code is always preferable to faster, processor-specific assembly code.

Use assembler only in the rarest cases, where you cannot accomplish what you need any other way. And when you use assembler, as discussed above, make it platform-specific code via conditional compilation.

The paradigm behind the platform

The Unix philosophy is “from developers to developers”. Reusable and automated solutions are valued highly. That is why command-line utilities have pride of place, and the user interface is attached on top of them. Open source codebases and diverse OS distributions express the unfettered freedom of Unix.

MacOS (as well as other Apple products), although based on Unix, promotes exactly the opposite values, putting ease of use and userfriendliness at the heart of the interface. From this follow all the restrictions for developers, including a sandbox, an App Store, packaging applications in bundles, and so on. Rather than sporting many features – a single excellent (perfect) one is better.

Microsoft Windows is somewhere in the middle. The GUI is king, but the developer is not restricted. Microsoft's original mission ("a computer in every home") has already been accomplished.

You must consider all this when developing applications for specific platforms. If you write an application for MacOS following Linux traditions, it is unlikely that it will be warmly received by Mac users, who have very different priorities; and vice-versa.

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About the Author: Alexander Alexeev

Alexander started working with Delphi while still at university. Following graduation as a Master of Mathematics, he took several jobs in the Delphi world. Today he works for the EurekaLab s.a.s. company, where he develops and supports EurekaLog for Delphi/C++ Builder. Alex lives in the Russian Federation and maintains a personal blog, where he writes about Delphi. Some of his articles are available in English at eurekalog.blogspot.com. His favourite topics are debugging-related.