After testing Embarcadero RAD Studio XE6 for sometimes, here are some findings/summary of mine.
Pros:
- great for rapid prototyping
- easy to use (for simple app)
- single code base (delphi/c++) for multi-platform (FMX), Win32, Win64, Android, iOS, OSX.
- ARC for ui components (a feature that Qt already have when I first use it)
- FireDAC for easy database app creation
- REST components
- Some eye-catching features like Application Tethering, Integration with BaaS, InApp Purchase and Advertising components ...
Cons:
- some design issue. e.g. grid assume all cells with same content alignment. (Who will use a table with contents all right-justified?)
- not fully multi-platform. e.g. webbrowser not available on Windows platform
- runtime library a bit large (>30MB in release mode)
- startup time a bit long, especially for android, may be due to the large runtime library
- issue with multi-threading on iOS, got unexpected AV
- sometimes need tweaking, e.g. reorder your code execution sequence, to display properly. The most noticeable one is TWebBrowser on iOS, you need to make TWebBrowser component visible before assigning url, otherwise, the component seems invisible. Also, you need to make it invisible before you can show your other ui components as the TWebBrowser, if visible, will cover up all other components. (may be it is due to the fact that I've placed the webrowsee on a TLayout)
Some suggestions:
- Minimize the forms used in development as starting up a form takes long time, that's why I use a TLayout with TWebBrowser in the above
- TabControl may be another choice for page navigation
- One initialize your first page and postpone all other initialization process to a later time using timer, especially for android to shorten the black screen delay during startup
