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Embarcadero Technologies, a provider of application and database development tools, has launched RAD Studio XE7, a new platform for building connected apps for Windows, Android, iOS, OS X, gadgets and wearables.
The new XE7 version of RAD Studio enables Delphi, Object Pascal and C++ developers to extend existing Windows applications and build new, modern apps that connect desktop and mobile devices with gadgets, cloud services, and enterprise data and APIs, Embarcadero said.
“In today’s increasingly connected world, developers are challenged to extend the user experience of existing Windows applications to new devices and form factors, and transform existing applications into modern solutions that their customers and users will love to use,” Michael Swindell, senior vice president of products at Embarcadero, said in a statement.
“RAD Studio XE7 is a game-changing opportunity for developers to be able to easily and quickly revitalize, performance enhance and extend existing Windows applications with connected mobile devices, gadgets, sensors, and both cloud-based and on-premises services for customers in various vertical markets,” Swindell added. “For example, Delphi and C++ developers can easily add table-side order-taking or cloud-based ‘your table is ready’ push notifications for food services customers. Product and price bar-code lookups can be easily added to apps for retail customers and staff, or connected bio-health sensors can be added to health care office applications and biosciences research applications.”
RAD Studio XE7 enables developers to extend Windows applications using WiFi and Bluetooth app tethering, and create shared user interface code across multiple device form factors. With RAD Studio XE7, developers can also access data and services from within the enterprise, while the new Parallel Programming Library boosts multi-threaded performance on multi-core systems and much more.
With the Parallel Computing Library, developers can boost multi-threaded app performance on multi-core systems. The new Parallel Programming library increases the performance of existing C++ and Object Pascal code by parallelizing threads that can take full advantage of multi-core CPUs.
The new release includes several new features, such as FireUI, a multi-device designer with UI components. RAD Studio XE7 enables developers to build shared user interfaces that are optimized for specific devices and form factors. Developers can build apps for multiple platforms and device form factors simultaneously, with one shared master form. A new behavior service API allows the framework to optimize for the capabilities and device form factor of the native platform to deliver the best user experience for that device, Embarcadero said.
In addition, Bluetooth connections are now available for app tethering. Developers can extend their existing Windows applications to WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled devices, including Bluetooth LE for connecting to lower-power devices. Hundreds of gadgets and wearables are available to connect with existing Windows and mobile apps.
Moreover, Enterprise Mobility Services (EMS) is a new turnkey solution for interconnected, distributed apps that provides a middleware server that hosts loadable custom API and data access modules. EMS is based on open, standard technologies, including REST HTTP calls and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data formats, and provides major SQL database drivers along with an encrypted, embedded, server-side SQL data store. With its user management and authentication, plus user and API analytics, Enterprise Mobility Services is useful for enabling secure access from mobile and desktop apps to enterprise databases.
Other RAD Studio XE7 enhancements include Object Pascal Language enhancements, RTL enhancements, database and FireDAC enhancements, a new PAServer manager, and FireMonkey enhancements.
“One of the biggest challenges for Windows developers today is extending their existing applications beyond the desktop to participate in this new world of mobile devices and connected gadgets and wearables,” Al Hilwa, program director for software development research at IDC, said in a statement. “RAD Studio XE7 takes aim at these challenges with key technologies for multi-device development, enterprise mobility and device connectivity. This is a great opportunity for those developers to create new user experiences for their customers and users.”
RAD Studio XE7, Delphi XE7 and C++Builder XE7 are now available from Embarcadero and its partners. Go here to download a free trial.