Features
Kylix supports application programming using Object Pascal and C++, and is particularly suited to the development of command line utilities and (especially) GUI applications, but not well suited to low-level programming, such as the development of device drivers or kernel modules.
Though it interacts poorly with many Linux window managers, the IDE is basically the Delphi 5 IDE running on top of Wine, with a fast native code compiler, and tools for code navigation, auto-completion, parameter-name tooltips, and so on. The debugger is capable, but very slow to load, and can crash the whole IDE.
Kylix features CLX, a Linux version of Borland's VCL, which is (mostly) a component-based control library, not unlike Visual Basic or .NET's WinForms. Like other component-oriented libraries, CLX contains both visual components (such as buttons and panels) and non-visual components (such as timers). The IDE makes it easy to select components and place them on a form, editing properties and event handlers with an "Object Inspector".
Delphi's VCL is an object-oriented wrapper over raw Win32 controls, that maps Win32 messages and APIs to properties and events and is thus significantly easier to use than the raw API. As such, VCL is tightly bound to Windows, and Kylix's CLX is built on top of Trolltech's Qt library. CLX is not 100% compatible with VCL, and most Delphi programs require some effort to port to Kylix, even if they stick to the Borland libraries and avoid any direct OS calls. However, Qt is a portable library and, starting with Delphi 6, Borland provided CLX on Windows as well, providing a measure of back-portability.
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