Native or Managed for an ISV?

June 4, 2008

Native or Managed for an ISV?

I noticed an interesting post in an ISV developer blog, questioning the viability of .NET for his program.

I noticed an interesting post (thanks to a Google Alert) in an ISV developer blog, questioning the viability of .NET for his program. In the post "Deciding on the future" the author of Modellers Assistant, ask himself if staying with :NET or going back native, thinking of C++Builder as a better option compared to Visual C++.

I noticed his doubts of having to keep playing catch up with .NET (form 2.0 to 3.5 today, to another version tomorrow, so all the time it used to stay on the latest version), his doubts about requiring (or distributing) a huge framework of which he uses a fraction of the features ("this led me to think about whether I need the framework at all. In short the answer is no."), his doubts on MFC as a good native alternative... Too bad he's not considering Delphi!

posted by marcocantu @ 7:22PM | 7 Comments [0 Pending]

7 Comments

Native or Managed for an ISV?

I think Delphi (2007) is the only environment that 
can compile code written in 1995 (in Delphi 1)!
Framework compatibility between different version is 
important to gradually add the new features and VCL 
has this great advantage.
.NET is a great choice for web development but the 
huge Framework is not so good for rich client 
applications.

Comment by Bertoncini Luca [http://sviluppoesviluppi.blogspot.com] on June 4, 22:06

Native or Managed for an ISV?

Delphi, as we used to know it, is by far the best
option for native applications, but for .NET
applications C# or VB.NET are by far the best options

Comment by Eber Irigoyen [http://ebersys.blogger.com/] on June 4, 23:03

Native or Managed for an ISV?

".NET is a great choice for web development but the 
huge Framework is not so good for rich client 
applications."

Microsoft is working a smart client extension of .NET 
3.5 at the moment. If I want to use something (for 
example: WPF, WinForms, etc.), the system will 
download required dependencies (assemblies). For 
example: WPF, XBAP ~ 20-30 MB. Otherwise, it is a 
good idea indeed.

Comment by daywalker on June 5, 18:13

Native or Managed for an ISV?

It depends of what you will develop. 
If it's a desktop application, native development is 
the best option. And in the native languages 
spectrum, Delphi is uncanny.
But if you need to develop web applications, native 
Delphi web applications (VCL for the web - aka 
Intraweb, WebBroker and WebSnap) are not really 
options since the productivity it very low.
In these cases I really suggest .Net.

Comment by Carlos Gabriel Arpini [http://www.tectrilha.com.br/bh] on June 5, 21:06

Native or Managed for an ISV?

I agree with Eber when he says, "for .NET
applications C# or VB.NET are by far the best 
options".

Using Delphi only makes sense if you need to develop 
standalone native applications. I would even say 
that, in such case, Delphi is the best option in 
terms of productivity, thanks to its IDE (especially 
its form designer) that is as user-friendly as the VB 
one.

It would be foolish to rely on Delphi for .NET 
applications, simply because it is MS that decides 
when to release a new version of the Framework or 
update it. Delphi couldn't help waiting for MS's 
directions supinely.

I think .NET is a very good tool if you want to 
program for the Web but, if your target is the 
general public who needs software to be used locally, 
then nothing compares to Delphi.

Comment by Pasquale Esposito [http://www.espositosoftware.it] on June 5, 23:00

Native or Managed for an ISV?

Hi, daywalker, could you shed some more light on this 
thing MS is working on? Any links? Sounds interesting!

In my opinions it is not the kind of company you are, 
but the kind of users you make software for, that 
matters. For business-users, the size of the 
installation usually isn't that important, and the 
drawback of having to install the .NET framework is 
small. Often, the decision to use the software is 
done on the basis of demoing on the vendors computer, 
and when the deal is done, they install whatever they 
have to install. Also, it seems the eco-system 
around .NET has surpassed the Delphi one a long time 
ago- at least for typical business-type applications.

However, if you develop software for home-users, a 
super-smooth download and install experience is 
important to have them even consider a purchase. In 
that case, Delphi is often the best choice.

Comment by Ottar Holstad on June 6, 15:20

Native or Managed for an ISV?

Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Service 
Pack 1 Beta:

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/05/12/visu
al-studio-2008-and-net-framework-3-5-service-pack-1-
beta.aspx

Comment by daywalker on June 6, 17:59

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