The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Kylix Major Keary |
Kylix is described by Borland as "a high performance native Linux rapid application development tool
that radically speeds and simplifies development through compound based visual programming". It is to
Linux what Delphi is to Windows.
Delphi, first released in 1995, introduced a new dimension to the development of applications for the
Windows platform. Previously developers had two options:
rapid application development (RAD) typically using Visual Basic, or run-time performance
for which C++ was the preferred language. Delphi offers the best of both worlds as well as easy database
programming.
The port of Delphi to Kylix has brought those benefits to Linux application developers. Kylix is a powerful
tool for the development of business applications to run on the Linux operating system. It is well
suited for complex e-commerce solutions and distributed computing.
Kylix 2 Development is a text written by developers for developers, both experienced and novice.
It does not assume knowledge of Delphi, but does assume a reasonable understanding of application
development.
The book comes with a companion CD that includes Kylix 2 Open Edition and a trial version of
Kylix 2 Enterprise Edition. The CD also contains source code used in the text, and appendices
(some ninety pages of information additional to the printed text). The CD is a valuable supplement,
putting a working copy of the application in the reader's hands.
The introductory part describes the installation process and discusses installation issues for Linux
newcomers. The introduction then moves on to the Kylix IDE (integrated development environment). Linux
users accus- tomed to command line tools will find it necessary to become acquainted with the GUI nature
of the Kylix interface, which is what the chapter covers.
The second section, the largest part of the book, is a comprehensive and detailed description of building
applications. The book's final chapter discusses distributed computing, which "provides a means to
integrate legacy applications with new systems, allowing for individual pieces to be replaced one at
a time".
If you want to develop applications for Linux the Kylix package is well worth looking at, and this title
shows how it is used. It is also a guide to porting Windows applications to Linux, and the development
of applications that will run under both systems using common source code. A well presented text with
plenty of example code.
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Whipple and Ross: Kylix 2 Development ISBN 1-55622-774-4 Published by Wordware, 639 pp. + CD, RRP $119.96 incl. GST |
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Reprinted from the November 2002 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
