Dimensional Data

In this new TCoffee and Code session, we a fact-packed conversation on how stock market trading drastically evolved over the years and how Delphi became a game-changer for real-time financial software development. In this video, hosts Ian Barker and Jim Mckeeth are joined by a long-time Delphi developer Jim Ferguson who professionally developed a Real-time Stock Market Software in 1992 with Turbo Pascal 6. Here, he shares all his experiences on how he managed to embrace the rapidly evolving technology especially in the field of windows program development, and how Delphi helped him overcome these challenges. How did Delphi change the game for Jim Ferguson? Jim Ferguson takes us down to memory lane as he shares his experiences on developing real-time stock market software. Here, he shares his humble beginnings and the challenges he faced in gathering stock market data during a time when the Internet was not yet a thing. The interview introduces us to the stock market industry and Jim walks us through the differences in the process at the time and the cost of collecting real-time stock market data compared to today. From radio signals to the earliest days of the Internet, we will see how Jim managed to embrace the evolution while he shares how Delphi (Pascal) made a huge impact on his very own Real-time Stock Market Software. How did the Transition to automated trading take place and what part did the Delphi Compiler play in that? From manual trading, we learn how Jim Ferguson and his team adapted their engine to automated trading. Jim also shares with us how he managed the risks of dealing with high-profile clients and traders in a fast-moving environment, the importance of unit testing, and his use of Delphi language to pull market data in real-time. To learn more about Jim’s Stock Market software development and how to make the most out of Delphi’s compiler, feel free to watch the interview below.

TCoffee and Code is back with another interesting set of topics. As described by Ian Barker in this video, “TCoffee and Code is more than just a virtual meeting but more of a group learning experience for everyone involved“. Joining host Ian Barker in this two-hour-long session are his fellow Embarcadero MVPs Holger Flick, and Wagner Landgraf as well as Jim McKeeth to share everything we need to know about databases, data access, and object-relational mapping (ORM). What are the best practices for using databases and database access for Delphi? The session starts with a brief introduction to databases and also highlights the notable differences between RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) and NoSQL (a distributed database) as well as prominent samples of these aforementioned databases. Interestingly, we will also get to know more about different database access for Delphi and windows apps studio including the native ones such as FireDAC, dbExpress, ADO, and InterBase Express. The panel will also discuss third-party Delphi database access such as UniDAC, TMS RemoteDB, and many more. What is ORM and how can we use ORM in Delphi? Finally, we will also learn more about Object Relational Mapping (ORM) in Delphi particularly the use of TMS Aurelius and the application of its basic features. Discover why TMS Aurelius is described as a state-of-the-art ORM for Delphi, the notable advantages of this framework as well as its limitations. The session will also share with us some details about the REST Client Library and will give us an overview of the RAD Server Architecture and how to create a cross-platform ecosystem with FireMonkey. The video will also introduce us to the HeidiSQL tool and how it works well with MySQL and other relational databases. Feel free to watch this TCoffee and Code session below to learn more.

In this new TCoffee and Code Session, host Ian Barker was joined by his fellow Embarcadero MVPs Holger Flick, Wagner Landgraf, and Jim McKeeth to discuss a mouthful of topics from dealing with REST Servers to managing Multi-tiered applications and API designs. Joining Ian Barker in this virtual coffee meeting are his fellow Embarcadero MVPs Holger Flick, Gerhard Stoltz, and Wagner Landgraf to help us better understand everything about REST Servers, Multi-tiered Applications, Load Balancers, Reverse Proxies, and even Augmented Realities. What do you need to know about REST servers? The discussion will highlight a wide range of important topics and the panel will introduce us first to the things we need to know about REST Servers. Generally, REST or Representational State Transfer is a software architectural style that is created to provide guides or standards for web design and windows app development. Those web APIs that comply with REST constraints are informally known as RESTful systems. A RESTful web service is implemented using HTTP and the principles of REST. The panel will also discuss the use of Delphi’s DataSnap Technology that provides the ability to create Client-Server applications that communicate through the Internet, the local network, or the localhost. Both Delphi and C++ offer all the basic and advanced capabilities to consume any published Rest services. What is the difference between a load balancer and a reverse proxy? In connection with the client-server computing architecture, the panel will also guide us through the differences between the use of Load balancers and Reverse Proxy. While both Load Balancer and Reverse Proxy act as intermediaries in the communication between the clients and servers they still differ in functions and deployments. The team will also guide us about the notable advantages of using the NGINX Reverse Proxy Manager. The session will also highlight multi-tiered applications and API designs and will share with us a handful of tips and tricks of dealing with them. In addition to that, the panel will also briefly discuss the fascinating AR or Augmented Reality on Android phones. To learn more about these topics, feel free to watch the webinar below.

Today’s software is definitely at the pinnacle (so far) of a slope of increasing usefulness, complexity, and power which began decades ago in the 1970s and 1980s. Our modern programs can do things now which were unimaginable when the IBM PC first launched and even when the earliest versions of Windows and Macintosh wowed us with WYSIWYG displays. Now it’s common to have programs that casually incorporate advanced machine learning, massively interconnected data sources, and the ability to use peripherals such as fingerprint or face recognition and near-field payment systems. A lot of that has become so ubiquitous that we forget we are holding that Sci-fi-become-real modern way of life in the palm of our hands in the form of a mobile phone. This wonderworld of computer enhancement can add immense depth to what we humans can do, even in our regular daily lives. But functionality comes at a price: software complexity. Complex software demands better design patterns and architecture to avoid making it a hard job and an impossible one. It needs more time, which means more money. Also, there’s a learning curve that can thwart new developers who have no knowledge of good practices and design patterns. As a developer, employing low code techniques can give you a sound foundation and a huge jump-start for your project. Low code generates a substantial amount of your application’s functionality and user interface for you with a very small amount of work. With the use of the Windows Application Development tool, you can build on the sound structure and add additional custom functionality if necessary, filling out the features with a low amount of extra code of your own. What are the benefits of Low Code? Low code focuses your coding efforts on only the specialized and unique parts of your application rather than the ‘scaffolding’ code to actually make the app’s “boring bits” work in the first place. Use your existing talents to rapidly develop applications for your business. Use auto-generation, toolkits, wizards, and visual user interfaces to improve your productivity and provide a standardized, tried and tested look, feel and functionality. Great for agile software development – gets a minimum viable product ready really quickly. Low code means lower development time and that means decreased labor costs. Low code means fewer places for the bugs to hide! Better customer experiences by using existing familiar and consistent functionality and user experience which leverages professional code written by experts adding the wisdom and experience of additional professional developers to your own. How can I do low code in Delphi? Before we start, it’s worth pointing out that Delphi, by design, has always been a low-code solution. The “RAD” part of RAD Studio Delphi stands for “Rapid Application Development”. The component-based design of Delphi forms, the VCL, and Firemonkey FMX has always meant Delphi developers have always been writing far less code than alternative solutions. But there’s more waiting to help you be a low code powerhouse. The Firemonkey Low Code App Wizard is your new best friend. How can I use the RAD Studio Low Code Wizard to produce a fully-working low code program? To get started with the low code wizard in Delphi, first, you have to install the package from Getit. Open the package manager from Tools-> GetIt Package […]

TCoffee and Code is back for another interesting session. While this webinar series usually centers around windows app development, this new session will discuss something that is extremely popular today. Joining Ian Barker for this virtual meeting are his fellow Embarcadero MVPs Jim McKeeth and Yilmaz Toru to tackle everything you need to know about Blockchain and NFTs. This conversation will introduce us to the world of cryptography including the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the role of Blockchain, the use of Smart contracts, the emerging popularity of NFT games, and more. Interesting History about Bitcoin Bitcoin, as we all know, is the first ever decentralized cryptocurrency. It was first released as an open source in 2009 and the success of it resulted to the creation of other cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, Bitcoin was designed by a certain Satoshi Nakamoto who claimed to be a middle-age man but turned out to be non-existent. Everything You Need to know about Blockchain There were multiple attempts in the past to create digital money but most of them failed until the Bitcoin was launched. Interestingly, Bitcoin uses a specific type of database called Blockchain. Generally, it is a term utilized to represent distributed ledger technology (DLT) where transactions are recorded with an immutable cryptographic signature called hash. The panel will address all the Blockchain-related question in this video. Working with Smart Contracts In connection with Blockchain, this session will also discuss the purpose of smart contracts which are programs stored on a blockchain that allow us to convert traditional contracts into digital parallels. The team will also introduce us to Ethereum which is an open-source blockchain with Smart contract functionality. They will also show us how to connect and work with Ethereum using Delphi. Making Sense Out of NFT The panel will also discuss the emerging popularity of games that use Non-Fungible Tokens or NFT. Interestingly, these NFTs can be associated with easily-reproducible items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files as unique items and use blockchain to give the NFT a public proof of ownership. To know more about them, feel free to watch this TCoffee and Code Session below.

TCoffee and Code is a weekly virtual meeting series launched by Embarcadero Technologies on their YouTube channel. The goal for this series is to gather different developers and programmers in an informal virtual session to discuss some of the most important and the latest news about Delphi and the software development industry. In this new TCoffee and Code session, Embarcadero MVPs Ian Barker, Jim McKeeth, and Holger Flick were gathered to share their own thoughts about the newly launched Microsoft Windows 11 operating system and some of our favorite Windows App Development Tools. Are there major changes in Windows 11? Windows 11 offers a vast number of important changes compared to its predecessor, especially with some of the new available windows tools for developers. There are notable major changes, especially in its current graphical user interface. For instance, the new Windows 11 comes with a centered taskbar and a simplified widget bar that requires users to adjust to its new layout. In this video, the panel will highlight one of the major security feature changes in Windows 11. One of the system requirements for the new operating system is the TPM or Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0). The presence of this module will not just improve platform security on a higher scale, but will also effectively prevent software piracy. However, it also means that users must have a newer computer to embrace Windows 11 at full capacity. What Windows 11 development tools are available? Aside from the newly added TPM requirement, the team will also discuss other notable changes in the system especially with some of the development tools. This includes the revamped Windows Subsystem. The new operating system now allows you to easily install WSL. This particular feature allows users to natively run Linux Graphical User Interface in the Windows system. It is also interesting to mention that Windows 11 now allows users to run Android applications. The panel will also highlight other important development tools for Windows 11 including some Accessibility changes, virtualization, and Windows 11’s Right to Repair support. We will also get to see how the newly released Rad Studio 11 runs in Windows 11 in this video. Feel free to watch this new TCoffee and Code session to learn more.

In this latest TCoffee and Code session, Jim Mckeeth was joined by his fellow Embarcadero MVPs Ian Barker, Holger Flick, and Bruno Fierens to discuss another interesting topic about native windows development. This time, the panel discussed everything about web interfaces and how and what development tools you can use to natively run applications using web browsers with Delphi as the programming language – no JavaScript knowledge required. Learn how to create fully interactive web Applications using Delphi and TMS WEB core The panel tackle how it is possible to run applications natively using the web browser and how the method differs from native applications. The discussion also highlights the use of TMS WEB Core and where it differs from other web frameworks. Generally, TMS Web core is a web development tool that allows you to create web client applications from Delphi using RAD development methodology and a component-based framework. It will also highlight the pros and cons of using TMS WEB Core in creating web applications. They will also discuss the importance of using backend databases using frameworks like TMS XData, RAD Server, and more. What do you need to know about Electron and Miletus Frameworks? In connection with TMS WEB Core, the panel will also highlight the use of some of the popular frameworks among web developers. These include Electron and Miletus. Electron is a framework for creating native applications with web technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Miletus, on the other hand, is also a framework that enables TMS WEB Applications to run as desktop applications and provides access to native features. The panel will provide a side-by-side comparison between the two. To learn more about Web interfaces and how to create applications with Delphi and TMS WEB Core, feel free to watch this two-hour-long TCoffee and Code session below.

DelphiCon, the biggest annual online conference about Embarcadero and Delphi, officially kicked off last November. The highly anticipated event gathered a top-tier lineup of speakers to discuss the future of development with Delphi and a wide range of interesting topics that are absolutely worth watching. In this video from the recently concluded DelphiCon 2021, Jackson Gomes will walk us through the process of beautifying Intraweb Applications using the Bootstrap framework. How can I user IntraWeb with HTML Templates? Jackson will give us a brief overview of Intraweb and how this framework tool can simplify web server and windows application development. According to Gomes, using both Delphi and IntraWeb for web development covers both powerful back-end for developers and flexible front-end for users. The video will also introduce us to HTML Templates and how they can be used to customize the user interface of your IntraWeb app. There is a great and seemingly overwhelming number of templates to choose from. Most of these templates are free. With the use of HTML, CSS, and Custom JavaScript on templates, you can design the User Interface of your application any way you want. How can we use Bootstrap in our Delphi applications? The core topic for this webinar is the application of Bootstrap and how this framework can drastically transform a very simple IntraWeb application in terms of User Interface to a modern-looking and visually appealing one. While this may not be a full course tutorial, Jackson will walk us through a step-by-step process of applying Bootstrap templates to your IntraWeb Application. The demo will show us how to utilize the majority of the feature offered by Bootstrap including the use of basic web elements and classes to make the interface more inviting. To learn more about Bootstrap, feel free to watch this DelphiCon video below.

Localization is very important in software development. It generally allows your software to conform to the cultural norms and linguistic trends of the people who will be using your software in any given geographic region. In this video from the recently concluded DelphiCon 2021, Gleb Sitikov will introduce us to TsiLang Component Suite and will tackle how this powerful and useful, yet flexible and simple component is an absolute must for windows application development in 2021. What you need to know about the TsiLang Component Suite While developers might have been armed with tools to tackle the cross-platform issue, the localization of their software is still up to them to solve.  They can solve it by coding it from the ground up which can be very time-consuming and might delay the production time. To top it all, it adds more complexity, and it might result in some bugs too. This is where the TsiLang Component Suite comes into play. The TsiLang Component Suite has been in front of the market for many years now, continuously providing users with powerful and easy-to-use tools and components to resolve their localization needs. It offers both multi-platform and multilingual UI support. What are the tools included in the Tsilang Component Suite? The TsiLang Component Suite is a set of tools and components for RAD Studio that helps you to localize the user interface of your application in surprisingly just three steps. The suite also comes with many useful tools including the TsiLang Wizard that can help you speed up and simplify the setting of multilingual support. You can use this tool to insert all needed components onto your forms and configure them accordingly. Sitikov will also highlight other components like TsiLang Expert, SIL Editor, and Dictionary Manager. He will also provide short demonstration and show us how each tool works. To know more about the TsiLang Component Suite, feel free to watch the DelphiCon webinar below.

TCoffee and Code is back for another session. Before this weekly virtual meeting series goes on a short hiatus in preparation for the DelphiCon 2021, the panel of developers will gather for one last time to discuss another interesting topic about software development. For this session, Embarcadero MVPs Ian Barker, Jim McKeeth, and Holger Flick were joined by Ted Roberts who is the man behind SnowPaths, a real-time snow plow tracking app, to discuss everything about Geographical Information Systems (GIS). What are geocoding and geographic information Systems? The discussion will introduce us to the process of geocoding and how the Geographic Information System is being widely used in most windows app development software today. The panel will also address numerous questions regarding mapping and will share with us the importance of getting accurate information from various map sources. This webinar will also help us understand the fundamental principles of geographic information systems and other relevant information including the GPS coordinates, creation of GPX files, the use of Google Maps APIs, and other GIS service providers like ArcGIS and more. What things do we need to know when choosing a map provider? The panel will also dig through various online map service providers and will discuss all their notable advantages and disadvantages. Each mapping provider comes with its own routing and direction system. They also provide a different levels of details and different route types. They will share their own thoughts on how to choose the right map provider depending on the type of application you want to build. The panel will also share the advantage of online mapping today and how this mapping system drastically changed over the years. To know more about Geographic Information Systems, feel free to watch this TCoffee and Code session below.