I really believe that all Delphi developers need Hydra. Even if they are not using it everyday (which you just might), it is a great weapon to have on your tool belt. Hydra works for you in three different ways:
- **Plugins **– A modular framework allowing you to easily combine visual and non-visual plugins from different projects into one application. Think of it as components on steroids!
- .NET in Delphi Native – use a plugin written in .NET in your Delphi Native application.
- Delphi Native in .NET – use a plugin written in Delphi Native in a .NET application.
So even if you never have any need to use .NET, you still have the advantage of a great plugin framework, but when you need something from .NET, that is where Hydra really works some magic. With Hydra you have access to all .NET Features in your native Delphi applications.
That of course brings us to the Top 3 Reasons Every Delphi Developer Needs Hydra
- Never need to “Leave Delphi”
- Easier migration to .NET if you want to
- Greater code reuse through plugins
Each of those reasons in a little more detail:
- Never Need to “Leave Delphi” – As a Native Delphi Developer there is question of leaving Delphi and moving to .NET. With Hydra you never need to because you can leverage all of .NET in your native Delphi applications. If someone says “You should migrate to .NET because it has WPF, LINQ, and WF!” just respond, “Yeah, I can do all that in my native Delphi application too, but I still prefer using VCL, RTL and XYZ (insert component set here).”
- Easier migration to .NET if you want to – You have a large collection of Delphi native code that works, it would be a terrible waste to abandon it all and move to .NET. But with Hydra you can turn that legacy code into plugins to reuse in a new .NET application. Shorten your time to market for a .NET version.
- Greater code reuse through plugins – This applies to native Delphi developers and .NET developers both. The visual and non-visual plugin framework provided by Hydra really increases your code reuse and ability to encapsulate. Additionally if you have a large team with both Delphi native and .NET developers, now they can all work on the same project through Hydra plugins.
In short, Hydra lets you use the best tool for the job at a much finer scale. You can choose the best tool for each feature of your application. With the addition of Delphi Prism you can easily access all the features of .NET without the need to learn a new programming language. It really is the best of both worlds.
If you don’t have Hydra and Delphi Prism yet, then check out our special bundle offer, a great way to round off your Delphi tool belt!
