-=> Louis Rizzuto wrote to Christopher di Armani <=- 
LR> I am 'older' perhaps than you - I am not sure I can take that much
LR> time to convert my DOS apps - which is still not done after 12 years
LR> and about 8 man-years of effort - to a Delphi apps.
I had a DOS app that I'd been writing on-and-off for a year, mostly 
developing the user interface in TP7. Just to make the interface fly the 
program was about 5000 lines of source - not much in the commercial world but 
not bad for an amateur programmer working alone.
The first weekend I had Delphi I was able to completely duplicate the 
functionality of that interface, without writing any code. I was finally able 
to get over that hump and start making the program actually do things. Since 
that first Delphi experience I have never looked back to DOS programming.
Additionally, Delphi allows me to experiment with wide variation on the 
interface with very little programming effort. I can prototype easily and 
quickly to determine how well something will work with minimal effort.
CA> Give yourself a break and understand that it will take a while.
LR> I have.  See my reply to Don Kraus.  I went back to my TP 6.0.  It
LR> makes more sense.
I've heard people say that Delphi and other OOP systems are easier to learn 
for a newbie than for someone coming from a more traditional programming 
background. I know that until I figured out what event-driven programming was 
(using Turbo Vision) I was going nuts, too. Once it clicked, though, it makes 
a great deal of sense.
LR> I am looking into Java - that makes more sense to me
An aside - I know from your other message that you're looking for 
cross-platform capabilities, which, yes, Java will give you. However, you 
also mentioned that you're interested in speed - compared to Delphi (or any 
compiled language) Java is *not* a speed demon.
LR> This Delphi think is quite complicated and I am not pursuaded
LR> it is worth doing just to create a Windows apps.
It certainly beats doing Windows apps the 'old way'. :-)
It really sounds like you just haven't 'clicked' on event driven programming 
yet, which is probably due to your long experience with traditional 
programming. Once you get the hang of OOP/Event programming, I'm pretty sure 
you'll change your mind.
Best regards
EEAS
eric@kobayashi.com          http://www.kobayashi.com/maru/
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