Having hard times to find skilled Delphi developers here in Spain. Many years ago Delphi was learned at the university and it was easy to find Delphi programmers.
Having hard times to find skilled Delphi developers here in Spain. Many years ago Delphi was learned at the university and it was easy to find Delphi programmers.
Now things have changed and we are living in a Java world.
I still think that Delphi is the best suited language for business apps but, when a software company needs skilled programmers and cannot find them it is time to think in moving to another platform.
Perhaps Embarcadero and it’s distributors should spend money and time to reach agreements with universities to teach its technologies.
What do you think?
Now things have changed and we are living in a Java world.
I still think that Delphi is the best suited language for business apps but, when a software company needs skilled programmers and cannot find them it is time to think in moving to another platform.
Perhaps Embarcadero and it’s distributors should spend money and time to reach agreements with universities to teach its technologies.
What do you think?
Just a few days ago in a local online forum somebody asked for advises for a cross-plat form development tool that covers all the iOS and android systems, I suggested Delphi and one of the replies was "Isn't Delphi dead"? As a reply, I posted isdelphidead.com - No.
ReplyDeleteI have several thoughts but I'm not sure which one might be of help.
ReplyDelete- Consider remote programmers.
- Consider recruit programmers using other similar tools such as C# and are willing to transit to Delphi.
Edwin Yip I agree with you but, what can be done to convince the new generations of programmers about the benefits of Delphi?
ReplyDeleteEdwin Yip Christen Blom-Dahl
ReplyDeleteConsider training of new programmers.
Some years ago I was in the need of creating a team of Delphi developers for a big project of a great company.
1/3 of experts, searching in the market and making competitive offers, 1/3 of experimented programmers of other languages, like C# or Java and the last part of Junior programmers that need a good training time and tracing.
The team has become a great team, without a doubt! 42 persons divided into 6 teams, working like a one only team.
It's a thing well known. The time dedicated to learning a new language is less than a 1% of the time of the project. So, create a training department for new programmers.
The Spaniard law allows you to charge for this training to the programmer if he abandons the enterprise before an stipulated time.
You can pay for this training to an external enterprise, like Danysoft. They have options and resources that can be adapted to your necessities.
Christen Blom-Dahl
ReplyDeleteNew programmers, don't need to be convinced. They need a guidance aptitude.
I can recommend you the reading of a classic book about this: Rapid Development (Steve McConnell).
For example, in section 3 of the 3rd chapter speak about "Classic Mistakes" and in the plane of "people" enumerates Undetermined motivation, ... Unrealistic expectations, ...
The list doesn't include "lake of well-formed programmers in the language of the project".
I think that is more important, to get success with the project, the use of modern production techniques and development processes that the capacitation of the programmers.
The election of some Agile methodologies and the formation of them to the team can be a good motivation for the group.
Do not disparage the importance of the personal expectations inside a team.
Juan C. Cilleruelo, yes I think training new developers in the Delphi language is the only solution. But it takes time and money. You can learn The Object Pascal language in a couple of days. Learning the whole platform is another story. Nonetheless it is the only solution given the lack of trained Delphi programmers.
ReplyDeleteChristen Blom-Dahl
ReplyDeleteand... I agree with you in that Delphi continues been one of the best options in the market. Do not give up!
If you need some punctual help with your developments, contact me. I can be a good freelance on your team.
(from Valladolid).
Thank you Juan C. Cilleruelo , I’ll contact you. Can people tell us how things are going in another countries?
ReplyDeleteChristen Blom-Dahl Maybe try this strategy - You don't convince people, but instead, you find people who are willing to use Delphi.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Funny, here I am seeking Delphi work (at very reasonable rates), and cannot find very much. I am a former Borland guy that was the #1 position field engineer.
ReplyDeleteColleges train to meet current and projected workforce demands. Delphi does not fit in because its demand is very small compared to other technologies.
ReplyDeleteAny attempt by EMBT to convince colleges to offer Delphi training is a pipe dream, even if they paid for it because it simply doesnt fit into the workforce.
It is one thing to have a good productive product like Delphi, but it is completely different matter to convince the world to use it.
Jennifer Powell I do not agree that there is no need of Delphi programmers. But it is true that the new generations of programmers doesn’t know the benefits of the Delphi development platform.
ReplyDeleteChristen Blom-Dahl I did not say that there was no need for Delphi programmers. Reread what I said.
ReplyDeleteThe need is small and it will very likely stay that way.
Ok Jennifer Powell. Shouldn’t we think why a good development platform hasn’t a wider acceptance?
ReplyDeleteJennifer Powell I agree with what you said. I would like to add the point that Pascal is a good beginning "101" teaching language. I am not sure how much that had to do with Turbo Pascal's initial success, but it had some effect.
ReplyDeleteI think at the time, it was mostly a price concern ($49 I think), that put a lot of power into the hands of the "hobbyist".
These days, "free" tools are hard to compete with, and selling someone on learning a language with a small following is even tougher.
That said, I would think C++Builder would have taken the world by storm.
Hmmm... Turbo Python anyone?
Joe C. Hecht Many years ago as you know, Turbo Pascal was a common college course and it stayed that way for quite a few years.
ReplyDeleteIt is unforunate that Delphi has lost its popularity but that is primarily due to the market movement and not haters -- anyone that says they hate Delphi really never knew the product to begin with.
Jennifer Powell I agree. I fail to understand the market movement. If reported percentages are right, Windows ruled(s?) for many many years, and (IMHO) there is simply no better tool for RAD than Delphi®. Markets usually follow the dollar (and that should have been Delphi®). I think the haters helped to ditch the language (pascal), but still, following that idea, if "C" was the language to invest in (and it was), then C++Builder® should have rule the day. I just don't get it. Such lovely products, with such awesome productivity factors.
ReplyDeleteJoe C. Hecht Human resources has a large impact on market direction.
ReplyDeleteSmart companies tend to adhere to planning that complements the availability of staffing, while others will spend money to train people on their choice of environment. That doesnt mean they arent smart but it does mean they have some justification for their choosing.
Jennifer Powell Makes sense! Thanks for posting this view.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Powell time to train developers is also an opportunity cost. Companies study carefully their investments. As you said many choose languages and environments where there is availability of programmers.
ReplyDeleteOur company has lots of Delphi code and we would like to maintain this investment. And moreover, we've tested many other languages / tools and none of them gives us the same level of productivity.
ReplyDeleteChristen Blom-Dahl I certainly agree. Delphi/C++Builder sales have been poor for the last 10 years, and even poorer since Idera has owned the product line. None of that promotes healthy developer accessibility
ReplyDeleteNot hard at all, I know, at least, 30 of them living in Spain and very close to you :-)
ReplyDeleteJose Leon thank you, we are looking for Skilled Delphi programmers here in Valencia. We need people working in our headquarters with full time indefinite contract. The company provides good salaries and bonuses. Not easy at all.
ReplyDeleteHire online.
ReplyDeleteOur last two hires had no Delphi background. They were up to sufficent speed within a month, when domain and codebase knowledge became the limiting factor for productivity (what any hire has to struggle with).
ReplyDeleteDelphi is similar enough to all the other major compiled languages today and has relatively few footcannons, so any decent programmer versed in one of those should be able to pick up Delphi easily enough.
The problem with "retraining" developers to use Delphi is, that you must first find some that are willing to be retrained. The last time we (the company I work for) needed some developers, every single applicant said they didn't want to work with Delphi. We ended up hiring two consultants with Delphi knowledge at horrendous hourly rates just to get that one project done. Now management is looking into moving at least part of the code base to a different language.
ReplyDeleteThe barrier to entry, at least here in South Africa, is the cost of Delphi. No developer here is going to invest more than an entry level programmer's salary on a product they're not going to get any work in.
ReplyDeleteDaniela Osterhagen Yeah that might be. I wasn't involved in the process so not sure if we got turned down. The two we did hire came straight from university.
ReplyDeleteMy point was more that limiting the search to those with only Delphi background might be an unnecessary constraint.
ReplyDeleteChristen Blom-Dahl i am in portugal, i have programmed in delphi until 5 years ago, i can retrain and collaborate. I have time now to do it. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI switched from mainframe Simula 67 and CP/M based Pascal MT+ to TP v. 3 because the prize was much less than a 1/10 the prize of MT+ and found it by far much better and easier.
ReplyDeleteNow prizetag of Delphi is forbidding me.
Some year ago year ago I applied for an additional employment and it turned out I was only one being qualified but didn't get the position of other reasons.
ReplyDeleteAll who was employed had C++, Java and C# but used 2-3 week training to start Delphi development.
How other languages without big backers get userbase? For example Rust or Kotlin? They are nice for newbies and hobbists. This is something, that Turbo Pascal managed to do, and something, that Delphi failed. Result is not surprising. Delphi (at least core tools) should be free, open, modern and easy to learn, to beat modern competitors. Unfortunatelly I am very pessimistic here. FPC has some chances, but Delphi will die under weight of legacy.
ReplyDeleteGive me a few more years and I'll move to spain to come help you guys out :-)
ReplyDeleteStefaan Lesage you are welcome.
ReplyDeleteChristen Blom-Dahl One issue might be that Spanish people like all things to be in Spanish and my Spanish is probably as good as your Dutch :-P
ReplyDeleteChristen Blom-Dahl, from my experience, sometimes the difference between finding and not finding is the salary range
ReplyDeleteOr the type of software to develop, if the technology it’s not attractive, could be hard to find people to work on it
ReplyDelete