Meadowlark: Sheffield based computer consultancy

Software tools we use:

Borland Delphi

Borland Delphi is a sophisticated and comprehensive programming language and development tool that is a development of the popular turbo pascal programming language from the same supplier.

The integrated development environment (IDE) and the langauge were a revelation to me when I first used them. Never had I programmed with such a powerful, yet easy to use IDE, nor programming language. Even IDE's and languages that have emerged since Delphi was first released have a lot to live up to, and mostly they fall short.

Meadowlark have used Delphi for number of engineering applications since it was first released. It was always preferable to C++, C and perhaps Java.

Advantages of Delphi

• Delphi is a comprehensive and powerful programming language that - having Pascal as its basis - is an excellent all purpose programming language. It encourages a good programming style, and the language is compiled, resulting in the swiftest execution times.
• Delphi has an IDE from the masters of IDE's; Borland. It allows a selection from a comprehensive range of components to be dragged and dropped to a windows form, properties to be set and changed, and the resultant application to be executed at the press of a button. Visual basic in comparison was always the also-ran in comparison.

What you can expect from computer hardware in the future?

1. Smaller faster, cheaper, lighter computers for the desktop.  They will be no larger than a DVD drive.  They will be silent, and run free software, and much of this will be web based.  They will use solid state disks, and large quantities of cheap memory.

2. More powerful mobile phones will largely replace traditional PCs.  The screens of mobiles will occupy as much of the phone as physicallly possible.  "Soft buttons will have largely replaced mechanical buttons in top of the range phones.

3. Sophisticated screen display technology will be available that will allow us to use bigger computer monitors in smaller less likely workplaces.

4. Micro-factories: places of work no bigger than a loft extension, where budding entrepreneurs labour in their free time "printing" products with 3D printers and selling their wares by the internet.