[Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minutes] The short answer is: Yes, init() In a previous post I lamented the fact [cough – Ed] that some Java class imports appeared to support the underlying Java constructors via an init() method, where others did not. This wasn’t a “fact” at all. It was a misunderstanding based on an incomplete grasp of the machinations of the Java class import mechanism in the AndroidAPI units.
[Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes] Over the past few days I posted a two part series showing how to obtain the current battery level as part of the implementation of an Android AppWidget using Oxygene. As far as I can tell AppWidgets simply aren’t possible using Delphi but reading the battery is quite straightforward Android SDK work, and I thought a comparison of the Oxygene and Delphi equivalents might be interesting.
[Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes] Jim McKeeth recently blogged about the results of submitting an “empty” FireMonkey app to the apkudo online Android testing service.
[Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes] Lachlan just posted a link to a post on Google+ (also available as a PDF) demonstrating how to call Java from Delphi XE5.
[Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes] I thought I should at least take a look at the amazing Android support in XE5 so I decided to work through the tutorial that was brought to my attention recently. The first order of business of course, is getting installed.
[Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes] There is an old saying about comparing “apples and apples” or more accurately in this case, “Androids and Androids”. A commenter has already pointed out that an Embarcadero blog post referencing the “effort” described by my series of posts demonstrating how to build a camera app for Android using Oxygene was not a fair comparison.
[Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes] I catch a lot of flak for being “negative” from certain quarters, but whether you agree with me or disagree with me, one thing I am not is sneaky. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of a certain David Intersimone. VP Developer Relations and Chief Evangelist at Embarcadero. A list of job titles to which we should perhaps add “Chief Snippy Emailer“.
[Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes] In a comment on my previous post, David Michael made some observations about the cost of Oxygene being comparable to Delphi. This surprised me, so I did some checking. The results surprised even me.
[Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes] Well, not really RAD Studio as such, more like Mobile Studio (whether as part of RAD Studio Ent+ or the Mobile Add-On) since everything shown was oriented around the Android support and emphasising the fact that an application written for iOS can simply be recompiled and will run on Android. Or Windows or OS X, as before of course. About which nothing was said (or, to be fair, asked either).
[Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes] More than one commenter to recent posts has trotted out the same tired old myths that, in their view, prevent [insert current owner of Delphi here] from being able to compete fairly on the pricing front. Some of these myths are as old as the Enterprise Customer thinking that is the real problem, and just as stale, not having been updated to reflect current circumstances.
