💾 A 35-Year-Old Turbo Pascal Program Gets a Delphi 11.3 FMX Facelift

 Back in 1989, while stationed at MCAS Cherry Point as a U.S. Marine, I wrote a debt reduction program using Turbo Pascal. I called it Zilch. It was a side project—a DOS program to help people get out of debt faster by applying logic and structure to their monthly payments.

What I didn’t expect was that the program would still be alive 35 years later… and that I’d be rewriting it in Delphi 11.3 FMX to run natively on both Windows and macOS.

Today that same program—has helped over 16,000 people eliminate more than $114 million in debt. It’s been featured on Good Morning America, profiled in Military Lifestyle magazine, and used by people from all walks of life who just wanted a fair shot at financial freedom.

Turbo Pascal 1991 (640 x 480)

Delphi 5 2000 (640 x 480)

Delphi 5 2019 (640 x 480)

Delphi 11.3 FMX 2025 (Light)

Delphi 11.3 FMX 2025 (Dark)

🧰 Rewriting It with Delphi 11.3 FMX

After years of maintaining a Windows-only VCL version, I finally gave the software a full FireMonkey makeover. The new version runs beautifully on 64-bit Windows and macOS, thanks to Delphi’s powerful cross-platform capabilities.

Here’s what I used:

• Delphi 11.3 Alexandria (FMX)

• SQLite for local embedded storage

• FastReport FMX for printable reports

• Pure native code — no external dependencies, no subscriptions, no nonsense

I designed the UI using nested TLayout structures with TRectangle backgrounds and TLabel overlays for text. Simple. Clean. Predictable. Just the way I like it.

📣 Hoping to Share This Story Wider

I recently sent out a press release titled:

“Veteran’s 34-Year-Old Software Quietly Wipes Out $114M in Debt”

I'm hoping it catches the attention of journalists—not because it's flashy, but because it's quietly helped people get out of debt with logic, structure, and a clear plan.

But if the story does spread, I want the Delphi community to know this moment belongs to all of us.

I didn't build this alone.

🙏 Thank You, Delphi Community

I want to take a moment to thank the developers and authors who helped me along the way—people whose work made this possible, directly or indirectly:

• Jeff Duntemann, whose Complete Turbo Pascal (1989) was my original gateway into programming. Without that book, none of this would have happened.

• Ray Konopka, for his generous email responses and beautifully structured coding guidance. His style continues to shape how I write and organize code.

• Cary Jensen, for his FireDAC and database wisdom. Cary’s knowledge and books helped me modernize the back-end without losing the software’s soul.

• Ian Barker, for both encouragement and that persistent (okay, desperate) nudge to add a dark theme. You were right, Ian. It looks sharp. 😉

• Andrea Magni, for Delphi GUI Programming with FireMonkey. His insights helped me tame layouts and think more visually in FMX.

• David Cornelius, for Fearless Cross-Platform Development with Delphi. That book gave me the confidence to finally step outside of the Windows-only box.

• Harry Stahl, for Cross-Platform Development with Delphi 10.2 and FireMonkey, which filled in several key gaps during this transition.

• William Meyer, for Delphi Legacy Projects. His book helped me realize where I’d been going off track from the beginning—and finally set me straight in the right direction.

To all of you—thank you. Whether it was your book, your blog, your talk, or a few kind words on Twitter or in an email… you’ve helped keep ZilchWorks alive.

🧭 Final Thoughts

I’ve always believed that code should serve people—and this project has served thousands. Not because it’s cutting edge, but because it’s clear, honest, and built to last.

Delphi made that possible.

If you’re a Delphi developer with a legacy app—or a dusty old Turbo Pascal project—you don’t have to rewrite it in something new. Sometimes, all it needs is a fresh FMX coat of paint.

Thanks for reading.

Semper Fi,
Gunny Mike
https://www.zilchworks.com

Don't Just Code in Delphi, Think in Delphi

I have always struggled with fully understanding the object oriented nature of Delphi. I still struggle with it today. For example, I have tried to read Nick Hodge's book "Coding in Delphi" three times and can't get past page 23. I'm currently on page 96 of Pawel Glowaki's book "Expert Delphi" and had to stop because he talks about using the TTextWriter class which is a class with virtual abstract methods. Virtual Abstract Methods, are you kidding me. What the hell are Virtual Abstract Methods.

(Expert Delphi page 96) "Notice that the TTextWriter class is a class with virtual abstract methods that just define the interface to the text writing functionality so we need to use one of the text writer descendants such as TStringWriter."

Okay, so I get a small glimpse into what Pawel's talking about. These VAM's are just interface definitions. They don't really exist. The real functions exist somewhere else. In this case the TStringWriter class. I'm just barely hanging on here, but I'm hanging on.

I blame my Delphi ignorance on my lack of going back to square one and learning Delphi's OOP think from the beginning. At the time I started using Delphi I just plowed ahead and made the code work. I wanted a Windows program and that is all I cared about. Looking back at it, I'd say I forced Delphi to work like my top-down procedural thinking. I never fully embraced the Delphi OOP think.

Hodges, Glowaki, Cantu, and all the other Delphi authors out there think in Delphi. And if I want to understand them and be proficient in Delphi I need to think in Delphi too.

So, how do you think in Delphi?

You find a resource that explains Delphi in a simple straight-forward manner. Perhaps a resource that teaches you how Delphi came into being. Does such a resource exist? Yes. And I just so happened to have a copy on my bookshelf.

Here are three paragraphs from page 7 and 8. If these paragraphs speak to you like they did me, then I highly recommend you read the entire Turbo Pascal 5.5 Object Oriented Programming Guide.

The challenge of object-oriented programming (OOP) is that it sometimes requires you to set aside habits and ways of thinking about programming that have been considered standard for many years. Once that is done, however, OOP is simple, straight- forward, and superior for solving many of the problems that plague traditional software programs. 

A note to you who have done object-oriented programming in other languages: Put aside your previous impressions of OOP and learn Turbo Pascal 5.5's object-oriented features on their own terms. OOP is not one single way; it is a continuum of ideas. In its object philosophy, Turbo Pascal 5.5 is more like C++ than Smalltalk. Smalltalk is an interpreter, while from the beginning, Turbo Pascal has been a pure native code compiler. Native code compilers do things differently (and far more quickly) than interpreters. Turbo Pascal was designed to be a production development tool, not a research tool. 

And a note to you who haven't any notion at all what OOP is about: That's just as well. Too much hype, too much confusion, and too many people talking about something they don't understand have greatly muddied the waters in the last year or so. Strive to forget what people have told you about OOP. The best way (in fact, the only way) to learn anything useful about OOP is to do what you're about to do: Sit down and try it yourself.

I'm convinced this little 124 page resource will give me the solid foundation of Delphi think that I've  been missing. I was so excited to find this little gem and what it offers, I had to stop reading and tell you guys about it.

A copy is available on archive.org

Enjoy!

Semper Fi
Gunny Mike
zilchworks.com