Delphi vs. C#

Overview

The choice of the right technology for your project can be a rather tricky task, especially when you have never needed to make such choices before. The range of available options is very wide today. While some programming languages and tools have a rather long history, some others are newcomers that are only beginning to win the hearts of developers.

In this blog post, we are going to talk about two industry’s “veterans” that have big armies of fans among programmers – Delphi and C#. How to choose the best technology? What makes them different? These are the questions that we at Softacom hear quite often from our customers. 

We offer you to take a closer look at these two technologies and compare them. And at the very end of the article, we will share our opinion and name the best technology (spoiler: you may be surprised).

C#: What should you know about it?

Let’s start with the most basic information about each of the technologies under consideration.

C# is a popular general-purpose programming language. Today it is widely used for creating a variety of solutions, including desktop Windows software, websites, mobile apps, and video games.

It has gained great popularity. As of August 2024, it is in the 4th position on the PYPL PopularitY of Programming Language Index. The index is created based on the number of language tutorial searches on Google.

Pros of C#

The popularity of this programming language can be explained by the row of advantages that it offers:

• Object-oriented design. Thanks to being based on object-oriented programming principles, C# can be easily used to write and maintain complex software. Such features as inheritance and polymorphism, make it easier for developers to read and modify the code even if it was written by other teams.
• Cross-platform compatibility. With C#, developers can create apps that will run on multiple operating systems. That’s why this technology is often chosen for software that should work on a wide range of devices. This helps to reduce the time needed for building solutions, as well as cut off the development costs.
• Scalability and easiness of maintenance. The language has a rather strict nature. That’s why C# software is consistent and can be adjusted and maintained much more easily than many other programs written in other languages.
• Large and active community. The C# community is one of its strongest benefits. Developers can easily get access to a lot of resources for learning and troubleshooting. Moreover, they can always ask for advice on some specialized chats and be sure that they will receive a valuable recommendation.

Cons of C#

However, as well as any other technology, C# has some disadvantages that deserve your attention:

• Steep learning curve. C# is not the easiest language to learn. Due to advanced features and syntax, the learning process can be rather time-consuming. That’s why sometimes it’s difficult to find developers with relevant skills.
• Proprietary technology. C# and the .NET framework that it is associated with are owned and maintained by Microsoft. That’s why possibilities for modifications and customizations can be rather limited.
• Resource consumption. C# software may require more processing power and memory resources than many other apps. That’s why if you know that your C# app should run on not very powerful, old devices, it’s better to choose another programming language.

Delphi: Key facts

Delphi, as well as C#, is a general-purpose programming language. But it is also a software product that relies on the Delphi dialect of the Object Pascal programming language. It offers an IDE for rapid app development of desktop, mobile, web, and console software. 

The initial release took place in 1995. It was developed by Borland but at the current moment, Delphi is maintained and extended by Embarcadero Technologies.

Delphi is still included in the most prominent rankings and surveys, like the global StackOverflow developers survey. Recent years have demonstrated that the interest in this technology from the side of developers is stable. This trend proves Delphi’s power and reliability for solving a row of modern tasks.

Pros of Delphi

But what are the most important strengths of Delphi?

• Rapid Application Development (RAD). Thanks to reusable components and the visual development approach, programmers can greatly reduce the time needed for building apps in Delphi.
• Great community. As well as C#, Delphi has a dedicated community of programmers. There are a lot of tutorials, guides, and other materials that can be useful for development.
• Rich choice of third-party solutions. Today, developers have access to a huge number of third-party libraries, components, and tools. Their use can facilitate and streamline the process of software creation.
• Cross-platform development. With Delphi’s compilers, it is possible to generate native code for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux.
• Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Delphi provides its own user-friendly and comprehensive environment. It offers such important features as debugging, code editing, and visual design tools.

Cons of Delphi

To make the right decision, you should stay aware of the disadvantages of this technology as well.

• Vendor lock-in. Delphi is a proprietary technology, as well as C#. This can result in vendor lock-in. Due to this, long-term development and maintenance costs can turn out to be higher than in the cases of using open-source alternatives.
• Limited native mobile capabilities. Delphi can be used for cross-platform development. That’s a huge plus. Nevertheless, its native mobile support for iOS and Android can’t be placed in one row with dedicated mobile development tools like React Native and Flutter.
• Dependency on its proprietary IDE. Though the Delphi IDE deserves praise, its use can limit the possibilities of switching to other development environments or tools.

C# vs Delphi: Comparison

Now, when it’s time to compare these two technologies to make the right choice for your project.

How to choose the best technology?

The choice of the right technology for software development is a crucial decision that can impact the success, scalability, and maintainability of your project. Such decisions can’t be made “just because”. They should be informed and well-grounded. 

To facilitate this task for you, we’ve prepared the following recommendations.

1. Analyze your project requirements. You should clearly define what your software needs to do. Consider the features, complexity, and any specific needs, such as real-time processing, cross-platform support, or integration with other systems.
2. Evaluate your existing expertise. If you already have a development team, choose technologies that align with the expertise of your team members. This will reduce the learning curve and development time and will help you avoid the necessity to collaborate with external specialists. 

Nevertheless, quite often cooperation with a professional development company may turn out to be a rather feasible decision. In this case, it’s better not to choose very rare technologies. For example, C# and Delphi are rather popular and can become an excellent choice for you.

3. Analyze such parameters as scalability and future-proofing. You need to choose a technology that can scale with your project. You can schedule a consultation with experts to discuss how easy it will be to add new features to your software, handle more users, or expand to new platforms.
4. Find out whether technologies under consideration have big communities and ecosystems. It will be great to work with a technology that has a rich ecosystem of libraries, frameworks, and tools. They can greatly accelerate development and reduce the need to build everything from scratch. At the same time, an active community can be very helpful for finding solutions to tech issues and getting updates.
5. Consider the cost factor. It’s crucial to take into account not only the development but also maintenance costs.
6. Think about your integration needs. Make sure that the chosen technology can be seamlessly integrated with your existing systems and the third-party services that you use.
7. Make a balanced decision. Carefully evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each technology based on your findings. Consider such factors as time to market, ease of use, flexibility, security, and long-term sustainability.

As you can see, there are quite a lot of parameters to analyze. But together with the technology, you should also find the best C# or Delphi experts to work on your solution. Here you should remember that you can fully leverage the advantages of different tools only when they are used by skilful professionals.

Delphi or C#: Final verdict

So which option is better: C# or Delphi? 

If you address this question to any person who has at least the most basic technical knowledge, you may get a rather confusing and ambiguous answer. If you ask to provide the shortest possible reply, it will be “It depends”.

And that’s really so. Talking about technologies, we can’t just categorize them into two groups labeled “black” and “white”. The choice of a tech stack for your project is a much more complicated process than it may seem.

Your decision should be based not on the “superiority” of one of the options. But on its suitability for your tasks.

Even if someone says that he or she likes C# more than Delphi (or vice versa), is it a reason for you to choose it for your solution? Definitely not. It’s just a reason to learn a little bit more about this technology and ask this person to provide more details about its benefits.

Our experience 

Our company has been working in the software development market for more than 15 years. Over this time period, we have managed to build an outstanding reputation as a prominent Delphi development team. We do our best to contribute to the prosperity and growth of the Delphi community. Our co-founder is an Embarcadero MVP. Do these arguments sound weighty enough to prove that we are great fans of Delphi?

Nevertheless, we fully understand that the best way to promote and support Delphi is to use it only in those cases where it can fully demonstrate its potential, instead of using it just “for statistics”.

We strongly believe that professionalism is based on objectivity.

It’s impossible to become a reliable tech partner for businesses, without taking into account their real needs. 

That’s why when our customers turn to us with their requests, the first thing that we do is carefully analyze their requirements and the current state of the IT infrastructure.

We have a rich tech stack. Delphi and C# are among those technologies that our developers are good at. They deeply understand the weaknesses and strengths of each of them. That’s why if you come to us with a request to help you make the right choice, you can expect to get a well-reasoned detailed answer with all the pros and cons.