Overview
Delphi 12.2 embodies the latest technical ideas, the results of Embarcadero’s efforts.
All the features of the new IDE can be listed for a long time. I would like to dwell on the most valuable features of this IDE for me and my colleagues.
Focus Mode
In the new version of Delphi, the code editor has been further developed. This is the “Focus Mode”, which allows you to expand the editor to the whole screen and remove all unnecessary panels from the screen.
This is actually an amazing feature. Previously, instead of this, you had to open the editor in a separate window using the “New Edit Window” function, and then use the mouse to stretch this window to the whole screen, which was not very convenient.
Split Editor
I would also like to remind you about the “Split Editor” function, which was introduced in Delphi 12.1, but not much time has passed since then and I would like to talk about “Split Editor” again and again. I and my colleagues have been waiting for such a feature in Delphi for a long time.
Split Editor is one of the key features that allows you to use multiple editors side by side on the same screen.
For example, on the left you will edit one file, on the right you will edit another file. Moreover, each editor can have its own tabs. And that’s great!
Artificial intelligence services
Artificial intelligence is tightly woven into the new development environment.
In the IDE options on the “Smart CodeInsight” tab you can configure access to such online services as OpenAI, Gemini, Claude.
Using these artificial intelligence services, you can, for example, select a piece of code in the code editor, then open the context menu, select “Smart CodeInsight” and then choose “Explain the Code”.
The result is a detailed explanation of the highlighted code. And this is just one of the possibilities of using artificial intelligence directly from the Delphi environment. And there are plenty of such possibilities.
Of course, artificial intelligence doesn’t always produce results that live up to our expectations, but it works! It does work, and my colleagues and I use artificial intelligence directly from Delphi from time to time.
64-bit compiler of code
In Delphi 12.2, a full-fledged 64-bit compiler of code written in the Delphi (Object Pascal) language has appeared.
The Delphi compiler has long been able to compile code written in the Delphi (Object Pascal) language into a 64-bit application.
But the compiler itself was 32-bit. Developers working with heavy projects including millions of code lines sometimes faced the problem of compiling such a project into one executable file.
Developers would see an “Out of Memory” error. Sometimes developers spent too much time to solve the problem.
Embarcadero has managed to solve this problem and now we can easily compile a project containing millions of lines of code written in Delphi (Object Pascal) into a single executable file.
Delphi debugger
The Delphi debugger has gotten smarter. Prior to Delphi 12.1, we had problems debugging procedures and functions with many inline variables.
In particular, debugging difficulties arose with repeated names of inline variables. Now it is much easier to debug such procedures and functions.
