Two down, one to go
The introduction of CLX is a significant milestone on the road toward Kylix.
I was scanning the day's headlines at Linux
Today when a string caught my eye: "Inprise introduces
CLX, next-generation cross-platform library, component framework."
Well I'll be darned. It's public.
CLX is a new, cross-platform version of the VCL. It's part of Kylix [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9],
the Inprise/Borland initiative to deliver RAD tools -- Delphi and C++Builder --
on the Linux platform. The Kylix project has been an open secret for some
months; yesterday's announcement at PC Expo allows us to take the wraps off a
portion of the project and confirm some of the rumors.
The CLX (we pronounce it "clicks") announcement tells us that
two-third of the Kylix puzzle is in place.
The first part -- the compiler, the language spec, the debugging tools, etc.
-- was demonstrated to tool and component builders at a special
meeting in Scotts Valley some months ago. I sat
in on that demo and experienced the excitement first-hand. We saw Inprise/Borland
engineers compile Delphi code under Linux. Cool.
CLX is the second major piece of technology. It's the class library that
serves as a foundation for applications and supports the GUI. It gives
developers OOPish access to the hardware, operating system services, window
manager, and other programs. And it is the magic behind drag-and-drop
component-based development in Delphi and C++Builder.
(I need to interrupt this story for a minor rant. I keep catching myself
referring to CLX as "VCL for Linux" or "the Kylix version of
VCL." That's not exactly right. CLX isn't just for Linux. It's a
cross-platform framework that's intended for use on both Windows and Linux. And
though no one will say anything in public just yet, there's no reason it
couldn't be ported to additional platforms. CLX is the technology that will
let developers target today's most popular platform, Windows, while ensuring
that their code works on the exciting new Linux platform as well. Without
extensive rewriting or rearchitecting. Try doing that with C#!)
So, where were we? Oh yeah. The compiler works. CLX is now public.
The third and final piece of the puzzle: third-party components. If you
really want to be productive on the Linux platform you've got to have access to
an extensive catalog of first-rate software components that will allow you to
add features to your applications in a convenient, cost-effective, highly
reliable way.
The tool
and component builders have been working on Kylix components for months.
Some are porting their VCL-based components to the new CLX environment. (The two
frameworks are so similar, much of that work is easy. I understand it gets
tricky only when you have to simulate or duplicate features of Windows that
aren't present in Linux.) Others are crafting entirely new components for the
Kylix-Linux platform.
The best place to see their progress to date -- and to catch a glimpse of the
menu of tools and components that will be available for Kylix -- will be the
exhibit hall at the 11th
Annual Inprise/Borland Conference.
Once that piece of the puzzle is in place, Kylix will really be ready.
We're getting close.
Are you as excited as I am?
