Which features of Delphi 2010 Enterprise version are valuable to you, and why?

Question

I'll shortly be making a purchase decision regarding Delphi 2010. I've always been a "Professional" level developer (meaning I've owned the "Professional" SKU of the product before), but I'm considering buying the Enterprise edition this time. I pay for my own tools, and the $1150 difference in price (for the RAD studio product) is not insignificant to me.

What features from the Enterprise edition do you use regularly? What additional capabilities do they provide you in your work, how do they save you time and effort during programming, or how do they improve the quality of your work?

Answer 1

I stopped using the Professional SKU with Delphi 2 because of the differences in feature sets and have continued to do so. Some new Enterprise features make their way down to Pro, but you never know which ones or when. It makes sense for me as a small business owner for the same reasons I get MSDN Professional subscription instead of trying to get by with the Standard edition.

I use the Architect SKU of RAD Studio. Based on the feature matrix, here are some things I use regularly that aren't part of the Professional SKU:

• dbExpress drivers. I love dbExpress, particularly the speed.
• DataSnap. If you're doing any multi-tier, DataSnap is worth looking at again. At least starting with Delphi 2009.
• Consuming web services. I didn't realize this was limited in any way in the Professional SKU until I saw the feature matrix. Delphi is great for consuming web services (much better since Delphi 2007). It makes things like troubleshooting the XML going back and forth trivial. Try that in C#.

One feature I use beyond what's available in the Enterprise SKU is ER/Studio. I loved ERWin, and ER/Studio reminds me why. From experience, I can say that (at least) a rudimentary working knowledge of database design and the mechanics of creating one from scratch is a pretty marketable skill.

I intend to use the following, but haven't yet:

• IntraWeb. VCL for the Web. 'Nuff said!
• UML diagramming. For the same reasons that ER diagrams make sense for database design.

Answer 2

As a software developer for a desktop program, I've never had any need for client/server tools.

Short and sweet, if you need client/server database connectivity, then you may need more than Delphi Professional.

Otherwise, Delphi Professional does fine.

Answer 3

The value that other people derive from XYZ has little bearing on the value that you or I would derive.

Surely the most productive approach to this question is to consider the concrete feature differences and weigh those against your own circumstances and the alternatives to the Enterprise SKU?

For example, yes DataSnap might be useful and of interest to you, but RemObjects SDK and/or DataAbstract is a viable and powerful alternative. If it transpires that this is the only feature in Enterprise that you would find useful over and above the Professional SKU then it may be cheaper to stick to Professional and buy the RemObjects product as an add-on.

Client/server data access is another, but of course you can use any ADO wrapper you like with Delphi Professional, or hit the ADO framework directly if you prefer, or use any of a number of alternatives.

On that score, dbExpress has the advantage of being the "official" technology supported "in the box" with Delphi, but then again the same once could have been said of the BDE, and we all know what happened with that particular proprietary technology.

Answer 4

• If you use clientdataset, the enterprise SKU of Rad studio contains the (BCB) source of midas.dll.
• If you want remote database connectivity using Delphi provided (non 3rd party) components, you'll probably need Enterprise. The firebird driver is also Enterprise+

I'm an atypical (non-database) Delphi user, so pro is enough for me.

Answer 5

I'd suggest you to download the trial and check if the added functionalities are useful to you. Basically, what the Enterprise SKUs are:

• dbExpress RDBMS drivers not limited to local connectivity out of the box (as said, the PRO has ADO and can use third party drivers or libraries)
• DataSnap for multi-tier applications (although IMHO the "new" Datasnap lacks too many features to be a real multi-tier enterprise solution). Again, there are good third party offerings that works with the Pro too.
• Advanced UML modelling and code metrics
• Some advanced XML manipulation tools and libraries, and updated SOAP support
• Unlimited connection VCL for the web (limited to the incredible number of 5 in the Pro), and some deprecated web libraries (WebExpress, WebSnap, etc.).

Unless you have a clear need for one or more features above, the Enterprise does not justify its price. Otherwise, it doesn't. IMHO the appeal of the Enterprise SKU is much lower than ten years ago - and if I hadn't COM DataSnap applications I would not buy it anymore, I guess.

Answer 6

Dbx drivers (Firebird) and DataSnap.

But its way cheaper to just buy a third party driver and a third party SDK for the multi-tier connectivity and stick with the professional version.