D E L P H I, L A Z A R U S, O X Y G E N E, S M A R T M O B I L E,

A N D P A S C AL R E L A T E D L A N G U A G E S
A N D R O I D, I O S, M A C, W I N D O W S & L I N U X

BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 53

INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV

CEO OF EMBARCADEO ABOUT DELPHI AND ITS FUTURE
BY DETLEF OVERBEEK / PHOTOGRPHY RIK SMIT

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
BOIAN MITOV

HOW TO BUILD AN APP IN XML AND

CREATE AN ANDROID PACKAGE
INCLUDING HOW TO USE THE EMULATOR WITH CODE AND WORKING APK
BY DETLEF OVERBEEK

PRINTED ISSUE PRICE 15,00

DOWNLOAD ISSUE PRICE 5,00
BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 53
D E L P H I, L A Z A R U S, S M A R T M O B I L E S T U D I O,
A N D P A S C A L R E L A T E D L A N G U A G E S
F O R A N D R O I D, I O S, M A C, W I N D O W S & L I N U X

CONTENTS
INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV
CEO OF EMBARCADEO ABOUT DELPHI AND ITS FUTURE PAGE 5
BY DETLEF OVERBEEK, PHOTGRAPHY BY RIK SMIT

WHO!? ME!?
HUMOR BY KIM MADSEN PAGE 14

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 18

CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
BOIAN MITOV

HOW TO BUILD AN APP IN XML AND

CREATE AN ANDROID PACKAGE PAGE 29
INCLUDING HOW TO USE THE EMULATOR WITH CODE AND WORKING APK
BY DETLEF OVERBEEK

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2 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

Stephen Ball Peter Bijlsma -Editor Dmitry Boyarintsev
http://delphiaball.co.uk peter @ blaisepascal.eu dmitry.living @ gmail.com
@DelphiABall

Michal Van Canneyt, Marco Cant David Dirkse

michael @ freepascal.org www.marcocantu.com www.davdata.nl
marco.cantu @ gmail.com E-mail: David @ davdata.nl

Benno Evers Bruno Fierens Primo Gabrijeli

b.evers www.tmssoftware.com www.primoz @ gabrijelcic.org
@ everscustomtechnology.nl bruno.fierens @ tmssoftware.com

Fikret Hasovic Cary Jensen Peter Johnson

fhasovic @ yahoo.com www.jensendatasystems.com http://delphidabbler.com
http://caryjensen.blogspot.nl delphidabbler@gmail.com

Max Kleiner
www.softwareschule.ch
max @ kleiner.com

John Kuiper Wagner R. Landgraf KimMadsen

Kim Madsen
john_kuiper @ kpnmail.nl wagner @ tmssoftware.com www.component4developers
kbm @ components4developers.com

Andrea Magni Boian Mitov Jeremy North

www.andreamagni.eu mitov @ mitov.com
andrea.magni @ gmail.com
jeremy.north @ gmail.com
www.andreamagni.eu/wp
Detlef Overbeek - Editor in Chief Howard Page Clark Heiko Rompel
www.blaisepascal.eu hdpc @ talktalk.net info@rompelsoft.de
editor @ blaisepascal.eu

Wim Van Ingen Schenau -Editor Peter van der Sman Rik Smit
wisone @ xs4all.nl sman @ prisman.nl rik @ blaisepascal.eu
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Bob Swart B.J. Rao Daniele Teti

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Bob @ eBob42.com d.teti @ bittime.it

Anton Vogelaar Siegfried Zuhr

ajv @ vogelaar-electronics.com siegfried @ zuhr.nl

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Issue Nr 4 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 3

From the editor
A
few weeks ago there was some agitation so
I thought I might be a good idea to have a
conversation with Embarcaderos new
CEO Atanas Popov.
I was able to make an appointment with him on one
of the traveling moments and appointments he
had. The closest was Frankfurt and so we (my
colleague Rik Smit and me) drove there - drove
because flying would even take more time - and in
this way we could do it in one day.
We had a conversation and an interview about
all that I thought was important for the community
and Embarcaderos future. Voices came up that
Delphi was going to be sold and the whole
company was to be taken over by another party.
None of that proved to be true - happily.
But it was also a good opportunity to learn
something about the real plans of Embarcadero and
the future of Delphi.
I must say Atanas was from the beginning
talkative and very open. It took all together three
hours before we were finished. That is the reason
the interview takes eight pages. We wanted to be as
complete about the views as possible. I think we
we've been successful in that matter and I hope that
you find this interview as interesting as we do. We
think the importance of this is very high and that is
why we changed the content of this issue. The
regular articles will of course be in the next issue...
And now for something completely different:
good things are going to happen.
First of all we (as the editorial foundation) have
created the Delphi Pascal Academy. This institute
is going to be registered as official educational
school for Delphi and Pascal. If you become a
member of this you will gain many advantages:
As a person you now can purchase Delphi for
academic prices and some things will probably
even for free.
You also will have access to code (such as
components), special books and articles for a lower
price.
We will describe all of that in the next issue.
There is an announcement in this issue (page 16)
and we hope that you will support them as good as
you can...Probably we will be able to show some
great news about component handling on the next
Pascon (page 17) Delphi Festival.
The next Pascon Delphi Festival will be arranged
in the Netherlands and it will also be English
spoken.
We have a lot of news on that event.
One very special thing is that BPM readers will
have a price reduction of 45 euros - so the event
will cost you only 54 euros.(Normal price is 99 ).
Anthony Vogelaar will be there showing his
newest product: a complete version of the
Microsoft Flight Simulator and the console to
handle the flight is built in Delphi. The simulator is
also built for training and education of Pilots.
For our Brazilian readers we have a special action
that they can find at our website, so they will be
able to take out a subscription at a special Brazilian
price and use the special offer we have for them.
https://is.gd/4qGc38
I want to introduce our Google+ page for Blaise
Pascal Magazine: https://is.gd/bbUxQt.
Its an open community. You can comment here on
the new articles, old articles or ask questions , ask
for special articles, code books and things...just let
us know...The reactions we will publish also in our
magazine. We also will create a blog for the
Magazine.
So for now: happy readings...!
Detlef
office(at)blaisepascal.eu

On the Lazarus and FPC side there is some

great news as well: there is a new foundation that
will collect money for special purposes for that
open source group. Free Pascal and Lazarus
Foundation https://is.gd/BJG4dY.
The funds that will be raised will be used to pay
developers for special projects that will help to
create important new improvements to the
language, develop new ideas and create
components that we all are waiting for.
 INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV, PAGE 1/8
CEO OF EMBARCADERO. BY DETLEF OVERBEEK / PHOTOS RIK SMIT
Atanas Popov agreed after being asked
immediately to be interviewed. That was about two
months ago. About two weeks ago there was quite a
lot of turbulence in the community and vendors
went nervous, some people even saw some kind of
armageddon for Delphi. Even the more reason to
talk the new Chief, ask him al the questions about
their new policy, what is going to happen to and with
Delphi. An explanation sometimes even in detail
follows here...
We met in Frankfurt at the Airport and talked
for about three ours.
Exhausting though very refreshing.
Atanas: (A.)
Being a developer is a serious commitment.
I think that great developers have to develop all
the time.
Detlef: (D.)
Well I couldn't do the magazine without developing,
I still do it for a hobby but I am not a developer.
A.
I am also not patient enough to be a developer.
D.
You really need to spend a lot of time as a developer,
and I don't have time for that.
I made a list of questions. You can say yourself of
course if you want to answer to them or not
A.
Sure. By the wayI have a present for you, our
new Starter Book for Delphi.
D.
I have seen that, Thank you very much!
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
A.
It's a very nice book to support early learning.
D.
Thank you. I was wondering about the future of
Embarcadero, what are you planning to do? Are you
planning to run Delphi for a very long time or are you
trying to do something else?
A.
A lot of people asked that question when IDERA
acquired Embarcadero.
Part of the business was Database related, and
the logical question was if we would sell the
developer tools business.
The sensitivity around this was heightened from
the history of Borland and CodeGear.
We explained that one obvious reason for buying
Embarcadero was indeed the nice synergies with
the database business, but we also see an
opportunity to evolve the developer tools
business as a platform in itself.
Similar to IDERA, but focused on developers.
Embarcadero is our Developer Tools business
and we plan to grow it as such.
D.
Does IDERA have its own development tools as well?
A.
IDERA has two businesses, the IDERA brand
serves the complete database lifecycle
management needs of customers,
and Embarcadero serves the development tools
needs of customers.
D.
But will there be a possible connection from Inside
Delphi towards IDERA databases especially?
Like Delphi has a connection for Oracle and things
like that?
A.
IDERA develops tools for database management.
IDERA doesn't develop databases.
D.
You do database mining and things like that?
A.
More like optimization of how SQL runs, how
Oracle runs, making sure that databases run
properly.
5
INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV, PAGE 2/8
D.
So if I understand correctly, with IDERA I could
manage Microsoft SQL?
A.
Microsoft SQL Databases.
D.
So there is not a real connection to Embarcadero?
A.
That's the Idea. Thats what it does yes.
D.
So there is not a real connection?
A.
There is the connection that both provide
excellent technology tools..
D. A.
Yes of course, but what if those tools are written in It depends.
C or C++? The market in Europe for IT Tools is growing.
A. D.
I don't know the languages used to develop the Well, we could say America is growing towards
IDERA tools. Europe and the other way around.
I'm sure it's a mixture of toolchains, there are web A.
interfaces and many other components. There are many cool tools developed in Europe.
They are not written in Delphi for sure. We just acquired a company in Germany called
I do know that a lot of database tools are written in Gurock. Gurock was founded by two Brothers in
Delphi. It lends itself very nicely for that, Berlin. First they developed a tool in Delphi called
but IDERA tools are quite new and probably SmartInspect.
leverage other technologies. It was not growing that fast and they decided to
D. develop another tool called TestRail.
So that's why you made the division between That tool today is extremely successful and is
Embarcadero and Idera? used by thousands of companies.
A. The interesting point is that they are based in
The separation was planned from the beginning. Berlin and a lot of their customers are based
The idea was that Embarcadero will focus on the in the US.
development tools business with Delphi and It is not a developer language tool,
C++Builder at its core and then continue to evolve but it is a development tool because it's focused
them, but also try to find other products that fit on testing.
with the core. We will grow this business and The guys are very well known in the Delphi
make it successful on its own. world.
D. They published Delphi feeds.
If I may ask that question, we in Europe are not used to D.
or hardly can believe that one can lend money for That's interesting
buying Programming tools etc. because banks in A.
Europe or in Germany or in Holland would never give Their very smart developers and have done an
money for it. amazing job with the resources they have
A. I think today Europe contributes a fair share of IT
We buy companies all the time with money from development. So it's a good place to invest.
banks and investors. I think European banks are
no different, but probably have a little less
experience in this space.
D.
They do? Are you sure?
A.
Not on the same scale, but yes.
D.
That's funny. We had a discussion about that and I
said that this would never happen in Europe because
of the trauma we have from 2008.

6 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV, PAGE 3/8
D.
So we went away from my first question
A.
I see your first question is related to incentivizing
young people to use Delphi, making it easily
accessible.
Obviously we are not Microsoft and we cannot
give away our tools to everybody for free.
However, we have committed that we will
support academic licenses for Delphi for a very
limited cost or free.
We have two immediate growth opportunities, to
leverage the power of our existing community
and to increase our base of young users.
We can be successful with young developers.
There are selected countries where we have very
high penetration of Delphi
We have similar ideas for Delphi,
in education. For example,
to promote a free Starter edition
in South Africa every high
in September.
school uses Delphi. Similar
efforts are underway in
Australia. This creates a nice foundation for more
businesses to use Delphi in the future
D.
I have some news about us,
in the coming weeks we will expand in Brazil and make develop in C++ Builder you get exposed to some
the magazine available there at a very low price.
A.
Very good.
D.
And then there is another opportunity with Delphi.
We want to form a Delphi Academy as a club and the
members of this club can buy the academic version.
A.
I don't see a problem
D.
Are you planning new prices?
A.
Specially or in general?
D.
What I am referring to is the free C++ promotion from
a few weeks week ago.
A.
We do not plan significant pricing changes.
However, we do want to make the Starter editions However, it is still an excellent product, and a
more accessible to grow new users.
We liked the results from our C++ experiment and Embarcadero products for C++ development.
will repeat it this summer.
We have similar ideas for Delphi, to promote a
free Starter edition in September.
D.
Or at least a very cheap one
A.
I think that the demand for a free Delphi Starter
version may not be so high because there are
fewer independent young developers. We have
either people that have worked for a long time
with Delphi and their companies can pay for the
tools or students that will get access through our
academic program.
D.
That's not really true.
A.
Possible, but that is our perception of the market
today and that is why we have not focused so
much on the Delphi Starter edition.
On the C++ side where we have many developers
and we have lost a lot of our initial penetration,
there is a larger opportunity to reintroduce C++
Builder and we want to be more aggressive
immediately. We want again to be recognized as a
major player, if not the leader in C++
development, which we used to be ten years ago.
D.
There is a difference
between C++ from
Microsoft and from Delphi.
A.
There is a difference in the
way C++ Builder treats the language because a lot
of our components are Delphi based.
So when you are a C++ developer and you
Delphi code. You don't need to know it, but it may
irritate C++ purists.
D.
That's not what I mean. What I mean is we have a
project we have to translate a C++ DLL (Microsoft
DLL), but we could not merge that to Delphi C++.
A.
Again, there may be some differences because
sometimes we leverage Delphi components,
especially with the visualization frameworks.
D.
Are there any limitations with the Starter editions?
A.
Yes, the idea is to introduce new users to the
frameworks, but there are limitations that do not
allow business use.
The version also lacks mobile development and
some database connectivity capabilities.
great way to get people excited about using
D.
Especially in the US or in Europe as well?
A.
Anywhere. We have large groups of C++ users
in Germany, US, and Japan, but in other markets
as well.
D.
I think it's far bigger then Delphi is, isn't it?

Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 7

INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV, PAGE 4/8
A.
Yes. C++ continues to be number 3 according to
TIOBE after Java and C, and more popular the
C#. Delphi is 12th moving up from 13th last year.
D.
It was 18th a few years ago!
A.
Could be, I think that there has been some
success in increasing its popularity. I think our
approach to bring Delphi into education should
help more.
D.
Universities?
A.
Yes, education will be a major play.
We will also promote it in a more open fashion,
integrated with other languages and toolchains.
Instead of the thinking, you're a Delphi
developer vs. another developers, we should
think that Delphi is the best language for some
type of development vs. others.
For example, Delphi today is not ideal for Web
Development.
However, making a Delphi self-contained app or
a back-end that works with HTML or JS client,
could be a great solution, especially if you are
looking for speed.
I think the notion that we will make Delphi the
most important language in the world is not
viable. However, it should be recognized as a
very useful and powerful language.
D.
Well we always say it's the only language except C,
that is handling multiple OS.
A.
Yes, there are a lot of benefits, but I think that the
mindset could be more open.
When you think Delphi is a tool that is very good
for certain things and the other languages are
good for other things that opens a better dialogue
and encourages more developers who may know
Object Pascal, to try Delphi again.
It should not feel like a religion in the way Delphi
sometimes does.
D.
I tend to agree with you, but there is one big
differentiator, Delphi is very easy to learn. My point
always is, in the future we will have a tremendous
need of developers. They do not all need to be Einstein.
Because Delphi is structured and easy to learn, it can
be a very good thing for us in the future and if you
have done Delphi it is easier to learn C#, C and C++.
The other way around, not so much.
A.
Easy to learn is an important advantage.
For example, our MVP in South Africa, who was
instrumental in making Delphi the learning
8 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
standard for high school programming education
there, made a great point to that effect.
He doesn't think that Delphi is better than Java or
that there is no place for Java. He was very
passionate, but also an objective educator. He felt
that Delphi is a great language to start with
because of its structure, but then students can go
to Java and other languages. Most developers
need to know two, three or more anyway. Delphi
and Object Pascal were pushed aside in US for a
variety of reasons, not sure all objective. The US
is a technological leader and it has affected other
markets, of course we think this is unfair.
(Laughing)
D.
That's how it works
A.
Even in the US things may change for early
education. There is not a lot of effective early
education in computer sciences. A lot of the
education is very practical, it was directed
towards web development, because it was very
visual, so kids may learn some HTML and
immediately see the results in the browser, but
that is not true programming. This approach
misses some of the logical aspects of
development that are especially important early
on. With mobile, things are likely to change and
we have an opportunity.
D.
What is your opinion about open source?
A.
We are a commercial organization and we want
to make money, which makes us skeptical about
open source. Most organizations that have tried
to create a business model from open source have
had challenges. Some try to monetize consulting
and support. I have not done as much research in
this space historically, but we have explored
certain trends. BTW I love Google Trends as a
gage for interest. (next page)
INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV, PAGE 5/8
A.
For example, it clearly illustrates how C++
Builder was dominating the market and how it
faded over time. Another example is JBuilder,
Borland's most significant product. It shows very
rapid decline. Anyhow, the point is that if you
look at major Open Source projects in our space,
such as Eclipse and Firebird, they are also
gradually declining, so there are clearly
problems.
In my opinion, a lot of these older open source
projects have lost steam. It is easy to be 25 years
old and say, I am passionate about this thing, and
I am going to spend a lot time developing the
software. I have lots of energy. Maybe initially,
because it's popular, I start making money on the
side from consulting and development. But when
some of the momentum is lost and priorities
change, then the economics change, which may
explain why some of these projects decline.
D.
How do you see developing for Linux?
Is that an issue for you?
A.
Linux is a different story.
It has enough resources.
It's very much alive....
D.
But can you as a company make money on
the Linux side?
A.
We are committed making RAD Studio work on
Linux on the server side.
Supporting new platforms typically results in
growth for our customer base.
Many customers anticipate Linux and will buy
more licenses for that.
D.
There will be no client in the future?
A.
There is no plan for client support. There are
some markets that may demand it, such as
Russia and China, but the economics so far
do not work.
D
So we can skip that subject for the coming years?
A.
We will gladly consider it, if there is a market
demand for it. We want to deploy our resources
in places where customers can benefit.
At the end of the day the only way we are
successful is if our customers find value and
purchase our products.
D.
What's your strategy now?
You skipped the Spanish branch story?
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
A.
IDERA has a different way of development,
but one that is proven to produce good results.
We rely on our Development Partner Network.
We put a layer of management and process that
are unique and differentiating to ensure that we
deliver very good product. We love our R&D
model and think that it will be successful for
Embarcadero.
I will not comment on internal restructuring
the bottom line is that we are committed to our
products and our product Roadmap.
We are excited for the future of our products and
believe that our customers should be excited as
well.
D.
The main thing is you know of what has happened in
the past. CodeGear. People get lost.
That's why people can get hysteric.
A.
I think one of the reassuring factors that
customers should know is that we care a lot
about our products. It comes straight from our
CEO, Randy Jacops. People may think that he
cares a lot less about development because he has
many other things to worry about, but frankly
most of the discussions I have with him are
around products, not around financials.
According to Randy, if we are not successful with
product, we are not going to be successful. I hope
that customers appreciate such product
commitment.
D.
What is your future goal for Delphi?
A.
Make it successful.
D.
But in what way?
What do you have in mind for the future?
A.
Growth. Financial growth equates to a good
product, people use more, we sell more
9
INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV, PAGE 6/8
D.
But how do you do that?
A.
First, we need to reassure the market that we will
continue to invest and build Delphi.
Second is to make Delphi more popular.
More people should know about the specific
things you can do with Delphi and you cannot do
so well with other tools.
We need to continue to deliver strong releases and
improve in the areas where we know we need to
be improve. We already discussed some of our
efforts to increase popularity of our products.
D.
Is it possible that FMX might be dropped in the future
and that you go to native operations with Android and
Mac?
A. FMX is an area where we have
FMX is an area where we have not developed our complete
not developed our complete strategy.
There are many opportunities.
strategy. There are many
We have seen excellent progress
opportunities, and we have over the last few versions.
seen excellent progress over
the last few versions.
D.
May I say something about that?
Most developers say something like this,
FMX is a very nice tool in itself and very useable for
games and things like that.
But there is a very large problem built into the FMX
technology itself and it appears to be very hard to solve
you do not have full native controls.
Most people say it would be better to have as a separate
part that is done native for Android as well as the Mac.
A.
Again, this is an area that we are investigating.
FMX has some wonderful capabilities when
compared to other platforms, such as Xamarin,
but there is a lot more to do to increase true native
capabilities. After Microsoft acquired Xamerin
and made it virtually free for many developers,
it made us think.
How do you successfully position FMX in such
environment? It does have some very powerful
capabilities that differentiate it from anything
else in the market.
One of the things we are doing a little different
from before is that we want to promote a lot of
our component vendors like TMS, Woll2Woll,
and others, as great showcases for use of FMX.
It is surprising to see some of the nice FMX case
studies out there.
I hope that we learn from these experiences and
develop a winning strategy for FMX.
D.
Last year, there were big questions that Embarcadero
would try to put all components into one marketplace.
A.
We still like the idea of
having a marketplace
D.
But it's open...?
A.
Its open. Yes.
D.
At that time they said we want to do it all...
A.
There was some logic behind that idea and it was
aimed to help customers.
However, now we think that actively promoting
component partners, but keeping an open and
independent ecosystem is better.
There is no way a company of our size can do it
all. The old strategy discourages external
development and innovation, and we do not like
that..
D.
That sounded like a very bad policy.
I agree that you should do it together.
A.
Yes. We have a community with very talented
people. They have their own ways to develop.
I don't think that they would necessarily fit nicely
in a big company. You mentioned, Boian Mitov,
he is a great example of an awesome developer
with amazing productivity, but also his own ways
of doing things.
There are many others like him.
We want them to be very successful, because this
will make our mutual customers successful.
However, if they all worked for Embarcadero,
I am not sure that we would have the same
results.
D.
I think your idea of having an open market is better.
Far better.
What is your idea about the open community like FPC
and Lazarus?

10 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV, PAGE 7/8
A.
Communities in general are important.
To have these associated with our products can be
beneficial.
I do not see a problem with Lazarus, but as
discussed before, open source platforms have
resource challenges It is difficult to see Lazarus
as an alternative to Delphi for everything.
D.
For some things it is possiblethe more you advance
the cause of the language should be good. I just have to get all the updates.
the feeling that some things would be better, open
sourced.
A.
In some ways that is naive. If you're on the right
path of popularity in open source, you may gain a
lot by riding the wave attracting new people,
growing. You do not have that momentum with
Pascal. To think that by making it open source,
you will gain momentum is not realistic - I think.
D.
I don't think so as well.
A.
One of the reasons that Delphi Linux will make the product
still exists is that we make more connected, more open,
money and are able to more flexible, more efficient
investment and promote it. for deployment.
D.
Speaking about the Berlin version,
what will the next one be? Will it be Japan?
A.
We like Japan, Japan is one of our biggest markets.
The name sort of honors that.
D.
Is It?
A.
We are still deciding on the exact name.
We are committed to our roadmap and will
provide an update shortly.
As discussed, there will be an update after Berlin,
possibly another one, and then will be Godzilla
with Linux.
The focus after that will continue to be on quality
and evolving the underlining frameworks and
language support.
D.
So you will do these periodical
updates and do the release when
it is possible to do it.
A.
Yes. Generally, we want to do one release a year.
Everybody is asking when we will move there.
This year we will do the two.
We have learned a lot from the Berlin release.
It is a nice achievement to do it right after the
acquisition.
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
D.
People are very much asking for Linux. It's obvious
A.
We will do big things, but also a lot of smaller
updates throughout the year.
D.
So what does a subscription mean in that case?
A.
That's the reason a subscription make so much
sensible. Customers need to be on subscription
They get continuous value. Most large software
companies have moved to that model.
Our customers are embracing it as well
D.
Why is Linux important?
A.
Linux will make the product more connected,
more open, more flexible, more efficient for
deployment.
D.
How do you see the server site only
component.or will it just
be coding?
A.
We will compile the code
to Linux, supporting bug
fixes, and many other
capabilities. So you will have a server and that
will run on Linux. Very similar to running the
back-end on Windows.
D.
Speaking about Microsoft, isn't it how they built
their own market - they gave the software for free and
once you're hooked they ask for money?
A.
Microsoft has a large and complex product
portfolio. They are able to leverage one product
for the benefit of another, dependent on their
strategy.
We are a very different company.
We partner with Microsoft in many areas to help
our customer work well with their platforms.
Their success with Windows 10 has been very
good for us. It created a lot of incentive for
people to get on our latest version.
D.
I spoke to Boian Mitov about the FPC team, about
things like the RTTI, of which he is proud for having
built extra logic, etc. He wants them to be as close as
possible at least to Delphi. I mean Delphi is going
its own way, they have their own way, but they still
want to follow as much as possible Delphi. Do you
mind that?
A.
Not at all
11
INTERVIEW WITH ATANAS POPOV, PAGE 8/8
D.
Would you help them doing that?
A.
We do need to understand the details. I just do
not know enough to comment.
We are happy to support open source initiatives
where it makes sense, we are even discussing
internally a few ideas around CodeWrite and
JBuilder. We are happy to try and test different
things.
D.
How will you sustain something in Delphi like the
bugs and the bug-reports or how can they be handled?
Because I think you miss a lot of people now.
A.
We have plenty of people, so resources is not
something that I worry about.
I do worry about quality, but that is a constant
worry, and should be for anybody that deals
with a product.
D.
There is a special group for bug reports and things
like that?
A.
Absolutely. We have a very sophisticated R&D
organization and teams dedicated to all
functions. The bug reports or quality is a major
focus area, as we have communicated on
numerous occasions.
Customers can read about this on our blog and
product roadmaps.
D.
What is your policy towards resellers, such as
Barnsten? They have been doing reselling for a long
time. There is the rumor that you are going to sell
straight on the internet.
A.
We already sell on the internet.
We are very committed to and proud of our
partners, and Barnsten is one that would testify
for that.
D.
So you can buy straight from the company's
webstore?
A.
Correct, in many markets, our partners have
their own webstores too. In general, we love the
partnership model and are very flexible.
After the acquisition, we expanded the partner
model to more markets, such as Australia and
India.
D.
So in closing, we must stress that you never had a
thought of selling Delphi?
12
A.
If Microsoft comes tomorrow and says we would
buy Delphi for a lot of money, we would
absolutely consider it, any business person
should (Laughing). In a business environment to
say that you would never sell Delphi is not a
serious statement. But, do we have plans to sell
Delphi? No! We bought Embarcadero with a long
term commitment and plan to continue to invest
in the company.
D.
Thank you for giving answer to all these questions
JETBRAINS
JetBrains (formerly IntelliJ) is a
software development company whose
tools are
targeted towards software developers
and project managers.
W A
IKIPEDI
As of 2015, the company has over 500 employees in
its five offices: in Prague, Saint Petersburg, Moscow,
Munich, and Boston.
The company offers an extended family of integrated
development environments (IDEs) for the
programming languages Java, Ruby, Python, PHP,
SQL, Objective-C, C++, and JavaScript.
In 2011 the company entered a new area by
introducing Kotlin, a programming language that
runs in a Java virtual machine (JVM).
XAMARIN
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned San Francisco,
California based software company founded in May
2011 by the engineers that created Mono, Mono for
Android and MonoTouch that are cross-platform
implementations of the Common Language
Infrastructure (CLI) and Common Language
Specifications (often called Microsoft .NET).
With a C#-shared codebase, developers can use
Xamarin tools to write native Android, iOS, and
Windows apps with native user interfaces and share
code across multiple platforms.
CODEWRITE
CodeWright is a Windows Programmers Editing
System for software developers originally marketed
by Premia Corp. (Beaverton, Oregon) and developed
by Premia co-founders Eric Johnson and Don Kinzer,
initially released in 1991. Premia was acquired in
April 2000 by Starbase Corp. which was itself
acquired in January 2003 by Borland.
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
 SPECIAL OFFER:
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13 Issue Nr 4 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

 DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

Nerd Reflections #5 By Kim Bo Madsen

Community for Blaise Pascal Magazine

Google+ page for Blaise Pascal Magazine:

https://is.gd/bbUxQt.
Its an open comminity. You can comment here on the new
articles, old articles or aks questions, ask for special articles,
code books and things...just let us know...
The reactions we will publish as well in our magazine.

14 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

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16 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

 PASCON
BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 1/9
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
BY BOIAN MITOV
The quest for intelligent machine has started long
before the first computers became reality. For
centuries mechanical devices have been created to
mimic human behavior, and grab the imagination
of the spectators with the promises of mechanical
intelligence. But only after the first electronic
computers appeared, creating such intelligence
became feasible.
The first attempts at such intelligence were
focused on teaching the computers to play games
and solve mathematical problems. They have
proven fairly good at both tasks. However when an
attempt was made to connect a camera to a
motorized cart and have a computer navigate it
through a room full of obstacles, it became
apparent that such simple task represents a major
challenge to the computer, and so began the quest
for creating the intelligent computer.
Over the years many approaches have been tried.
The initial attempts with hard-coded algorithms,
eventually were replaced with the so called Expert
Systems that dominated the field in the 80s.
The idea was that if we take all the
knowledge of an expert in the form of facts,
and rules and program it in the computer, we will
have a system that will behave the same way as
the expert.
This approach however was not a success.
The amount of knowledge an expert system
needed was huge, and once programmed with this
knowledge, the system did not possess the ability
to adapt and acquire more knowledge on its
own. The fiasco of the Expert Systems, dealt a
major blow to the field of Artificial Intelligence.
So close were they associated with the term AI,
that their failure damaged the image of the entire
field.
In the mid-late 90s another AI approach
emerged, revolving around a different concept
called classifier. A classifier can be trained to
classify data into different categories based on
some features of those items. The classifiers
quickly proved to be very successful in many
areas, and today they dominate the world of AI.
With the new dominance of the classifiers, and
because of the bad image that the Expert Systems
gave to the field of AI, classifier based AI today is
often referred to as Computational Intelligence.
Today classifiers are used everywhere. Among
the most widely used classifiers are the SPAM
filters. They are used to classify e-mails into legit
e-mails and SPAM. Other popular types of
classifiers are object recognitions classifiers used
for facial detection and recognition, Speech
recognition, OCR, Gesture recognition, and even
search engines.
18
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the
intelligence exhibited by machines.
In computer science, an ideal
"intelligent" machine is a flexible WIKIPEDIA
rational agent that perceives its environment and
takes actions that maximize its chance of success at an
arbitrary goal. Colloquially, the term "artificial
intelligence" is likely to be applied when a machine
uses cutting-edge techniques to competently perform
or mimic "cognitive" functions that we intuitively
associate with human minds, such as "learning" and
"problem solving".
The colloquial connotation, especially among the
public, associates artificial intelligence with machines
that are "cutting-edge" (or even "mysterious"). This
subjective borderline around what constitutes
"artificial intelligence" tends to shrink over time; for
example, optical character recognition is no longer
perceived as an exemplar of "artificial intelligence" as
it is nowadays a mundane routine technology.
Modern examples of AI include computers that can
beat professional players at Chess and Go, and self-
driving cars that navigate crowded city streets.
Here is how a classifier typically works:
FEATURES CLASSES
FEATURE
DATA
EXTRACTOR CLASSIFIER
The Data is processed by a module called feature
extractor,
and features are extracted from the data.
As example in the case of image recognition,
the features can be the colors of each pixel.
The features are then sent to the classifier module.
If the module is trained, it will output one or more
classes to which the Data belongs.
The way the classification is output may differ
between different classifiers and implementations,
but the principle is the same.
In some cases only one value will be sent in the
output, indicating the most likely class, where in
other cases the classifier can be implemented to
give different probabilities for each of the possible
classes.
Before using the classifier to classify the data, it
needs to be trained. Here is a diagram showing the
process of training a classifier:
FEATURES
FEATURE
DATA CLASSIFIER
EXTRACTOR
CLASS
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 2/9
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
To train the classifier, we send features (As Depending on the way the NEURONS of the
example pixels of a picture), and send the class that different layers of the NEURAL NETWORKS are
should be detected by the classifier (Whatever is connected the neural networks can be feed-
on the image - as example human, cat, flower etc.), forward, or recurring.
and the classifier will learn this. The process is In the FEED-FORWARD NEURAL NETWORKS , the
repeated with many features and classes. This set outputs of the neurons form each layer are
of features and classes is called training set . connected to the inputs of the neurons of the next
Once the classifier is trained, usually another layer in the direction from the Input Layer to the
set is used to verify that the classifier is working Output Layer :
properly. For this a separated set of features is HIDDEN
used, and the result of the classification is INPUT
compared with the expected classes. OUTPUT
Once we have verified that the classifier is
well trained, we can start using it.
Some classifiers are designed to be trained once,
and then used without further training. Other
classifiers can be trained over time while
working to improve their performance. There are
even some special types of classifiers that
automatically discover classes (clusters) from the
data. Such classifiers are often used in the search
engines to group the results based on similarities.
There are many types of classifiers, and new
ones are introduced over time. One of the best
known is the Neural Network classifier .
THE NEURAL NETWORK IS MODELED AFTER
THE HUMAN BRAIN. In recurring neural networks, some neurons can
It consists of elements called be connected to previous layers:
NEURONS usually
organized in layers, in1 wx1y1 wy1z1
and connected to
x1 y1 z1 b1
each other.
The first layer of in2
NEURONS is called Input Layer , and the last is x2 y2 z2 b2
called Output Layer.
The features are sent to the Input Layer , and the
Output Layer generates the classes. The layers
between the Input and the Output layers are called
ink wxkyl wxlyn
Hidden Layers . xk yl zn bn
Each NEURON has multiple inputs called
SYNAPSES, and one output called AXON.
The values from each input are multiplied by
coefficient (Weight), and added together. u1
The result is processed
through a non linear
activation function ,
u2
usually a sigmoid function:
( A sigmoid function is a
mathematical function
having an "S" shaped curve
(sigmoid curve).
X1 W1

W2 u y
X2 + F(u)
ul
X3 W3

Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 19

20 Issue Nr 4 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 3/9
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
Backpropagation, an abbreviation for "backward
I have been fascinated by the field of AI for long
propagation of errors", is a common method of
time, and wanted to bring it closer to the Delphi
training artificial neural networks used in conjunction
world. I had already developed computer vision
with an optimization method such as gradient descent.
library, and it used some classifiers, but I wanted
The method calculates the gradient of a loss function
an universal AI solution that can be used to
with respect to all the weights in the network. The
classify anything, so few years ago, I set to build gradient is fed to the optimization method which in
an AI DELPHI LIBRARY , and called it turn uses it to update the weights, in an attempt to
IntelligenceLab.
minimize the loss function.
Over time, I continued to expand the library,
Resilient Propagation*2, Rprop,
and as AI tends to be heavily CPU demanding,
short for resilient backpropagation, is a learning heuristic
I added support for parallel processing and
for supervised learning in feedforward artificial neural
OpenCL GPU execution of some of the classifiers
networks. This is a first-order optimization algorithm.
for very high performance. My goal for the This algorithm was created by Martin Riedmiller and
future is to upgrade all the classifiers in the Heinrich Braun in 1992.
libraries to utilize GPU and parallel processing. Start a new VCL Form application:
To introduce you to the library, I will start
with a very simple project using the Neural
Networks. We will use a Neural Network with one
input (One feature), and one output, and will use
it to approximate a function based on limited
number of known points.

Imagine as example that we want to control

the flow of water with a valve, but the valve has
some unknown non linear function. What we
can do is, we can turn the valve to few different
positions, measure the water flow, and then use
those values to train the neural network, and
have it approximate for us the rest of the points.
While this can be solved with other
approximation methods, the Neural Network has
some advantages. For once, it can approximate a
function with multiple input variable
parameters, something not easily solvable with
other approaches. In the case of the valve we can Type Scope in the Tool Palette search box,
add one more parameter for water pressure, and then select TSLScope from the palette:
even another one for water temperature both
affecting the flow in some unknown way. For
this simple example I will use only one input
parameter(feature) , but it should be easy to
add more.
There are different ways to train the Feed
Drop it on
Forward Neural Networks. Two of the most
the form:
widely used methods are Back propagation , and
Resilient propagation . Both of them propagate the
correction for the difference between predicted
and expected signal from the output layer to the
input layer, making small adjustments at each
intermediate hidden layer. In this project we will
use the Back Propagation*1 training, however it
is very easy to change it to use the Resilient
Propagation*2, by using
TILNeuralNetworkRPropTrain instead of the
TILNeuralNetworkBackpropTrain
component.

22
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 4/9
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
Type neur in the Tool Palette search box,
then select TILNeuralNetwork from the palette:
In the Object Inspector Click on the button
and select the ILNeuralNetwork1
component:

and drop it on the form,

This will connect the 2 components, and will allow

the ILNeuralNetworkBackpropTrain1 component
to train the neural network.

then select TILNeuralNetworkBackpropTrain:

and drop it on the form.

Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 23

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 5/9
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
Double click on the SLScope1 to open the
channel editor and click on the button
to add one more channel:

Set the name of the

first channel to Train:

Expand the Points property of the channel, Set the name of the second channel to Predict,
and set its Visible sub-property to True: then expand the Points property of the channel,
and set its Visible sub-property to True:

24 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 6/9
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
Next we will add a button to start
the training, and the testing of
the classifier.
Type button in the Tool Palette
search box, then select TButton
from the palette:
and drop it in the form,
then Double Click
on the button:
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
in the code editor for the Button1Click,
handler add the following code:
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
I : Integer;
ATrainingData : ISLRealMatrixBuffer;
AResponses : ISLRealMatrixBuffer;
ATestData : ISLRealBuffer;
const
SAMPLES = 26;
begin
// Train the Neural Network
ATrainingData := TSLRealMatrixBuffer.CreateSize( SAMPLES, 1 );
AResponses := TSLRealMatrixBuffer.CreateSize( SAMPLES, 1 );
SLScope1.Channels[ 0 ].Data.Clear();
SLScope1.Channels[ 1 ].Data.Clear();
for I:=0 to SAMPLES - 1 do
begin
ATrainingData[ I, 0 ] := I * 4;
AResponses[ I, 0 ] := abs(sin(I/10) + sin(I/3 + 0.1) * 0.1 )/4;
SLScope1.Channels[ 0 ].Data.AddXYPoint( ATrainingData[ I, 0 ],
AResponses[ I, 0 ] );
end;
ILNeuralNetworkBackpropTrain1.Train( ATrainingData,
AResponses );
// Test the Neural Network
ATestData := TSLRealBuffer.CreateSize( 1 );
for I := 0 to SAMPLES * 4 do
begin
ATestData[ 0 ] := I;
ILNeuralNetwork1.Predict( ATestData );
end;
end;
Here is what the code does:
After declaring variables, we will specify the
number of training samples:
const
SAMPLES = 26;
We will start by declaring a matrix of the training
samples:
// Train the Neural Network
ATrainingData :=
TSLRealMatrixBuffer.CreateSize( SAMPLES, 1 );
The matrix will have SAMPLES number of
training feature sets(the first parameter). Since we
have only one input for the neural network we
will have one feature per sample (the second
parameter).
25
 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 7/9
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
Next we will create a similar set of expected
responses. Again since we have only one output
the size will be SAMPLES by 1:
Aresponses := TSLRealMatrixBuffer.CreateSize( SAMPLES, 1 );

After clearing the scope channels, it is time to

prepare and populate the training and responses
sets:
for I:=0 to SAMPLES - 1 do
begin
ATrainingData[ I, 0 ] := I * 4;
AResponses[ I, 0 ] := abs(sin(I/10) + sin(I/3 + 0.1) * 0.1 )/4;
SLScope1.Channels[ 0 ].Data.AddXYPoint( ATrainingData[ I, 0 ], AResponses[ I, 0 ] );
end;

In this case we will use some function to generate

the relationship between the samples, and we will
also plot the training samples on the Channel[ 0 ]
of the scope. In the Object Inspector expand the Outputs property,
The next step is to train the Neural Network: and set the value of its Size sub-property to 1:
ILNeuralNetworkBackpropTrain1.Train( ATrainingData, AResponses );

And finally we can test the classifier to see how

well we have trained it:
ATestData := TSLRealBuffer.CreateSize( 1 );
for I := 0 to SAMPLES * 4 do
begin
ATestData[ 0 ] := I;
ILNeuralNetwork1.Predict( ATestData );
end;

The rest of the necessary code will be shown a bit

later, where we will plot classified data.
Next we will configure the Neural Network
Inputs, Outputs and layers.
Select the ILNeuralNetwork1 component. In the
Object Inspector expand the Inputs property, and
set the value of its Size sub-property to 1:

This will specify 1 output for the Neural Network.

This will specify 1 input for the Neural Network.

26 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 8/9
CREATE AND TRAIN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
In the Object Inspector, select the HiddenLayers
in the code editor for the
property, and click on the ellipsis button
ILNeuralNetwork1Result handler add the
following code:
procedure TForm1 . ILNeuralNetwork1Result (
ASender : TObject ; AFeatures : ISLRealBuffer ;
AResult : TILClassifierResult );
begin
SLScope1.Channels[ 1 ].Data.AddXYPoint( AFeatures[ 0 ],
AResult.Results[ 0 ] );
end;

This will plot the recognized samples during the

testing stage of the code we wrote earlier in the
button handler.
and add 2 hidden layers:
Select the Button1 on the form, and in the Object
Inspector set the value of the Caption property to
Run.

When you start the training process, the

In the HiddenLayares editor dialog,
select the 2 layers. In the Object Inspector set the
value of the CountNeurons property to 6:
ILNeuralNetworkBackpropTrain1 will repeat
training the neural network until one of the 2
conditions is met.
Either a certain maximum number of iterations (also
called Epochs) is reached, or the maximum change in
the output compare to the previous iteration
becomes smaller than a specified threshold (Epsilon).
Now we will specify the 2 conditions:
Select the ILNeuralNetworkBackpropTrain1
component.
In the Object Inspector, expand the
TerminationCriteria property, and set the value
of its Epsilon sub-property to 1E-7, and the
MaxIteration to 100000:

This will configure both hidden layer neurons to

have 6 neurons each. Close the editor.
In the Object Inspector switch to the Events tab,
and Double-Click on the OnResult event:

Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 27

 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAGE 9/9
CREATE AND TRAN YOUR FIRST NEURAL NETWORK
The project is ready.
You can run it. Click on the Run button:
"You may need to click on the "Run" button a couple of times until the Neural Network is trained well."
The red line is the training data with the training
points shown as red circles. The green line is the
result of the testing of the trained neural network.
This is one of the simplest demonstrations of
Artificial Intelligence Classifier.
It is not as interesting as image or speech
recognition, but it is a good simple example of
Neural Network application.
In the following Articles however we will dig deeper
into the exciting world of AI, and will do more
interesting and complex projects, involving image
and voice pattern recognition.
28
Boian Mitov is a software developer and founder of
Mitov Software http://www.mitov.com,
specialized in the areas of Video, Audio, Digital
Signal Processing, Data Acquisition, Hardware
Control, Industrial Automation, Communications,
Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, parallel and
distributed computing.
He has over 30 years of overall programming
experience, and 20 years of Delphi experience in
large variety of software problems.
He is author of the OpenWire open source
technology: http://www.openwire.org, the
IGDI+ open source library:
http://www.igdiplus.org, the VideoLab,
SignalLab, AudioLab, PlotLab, InstrumentLab,
VisionLab, IntelligenceLab, LogicLab, AnimationLab,
CommunicationLab, Visual Live Bindings, the free
Mitov.Runtime libraries: http://www.mitov.com,
OpenWire Studio -
http://www.openwirestudio.com, Visuino
https://www.visuino.com/ and the VCL for
Visual C++ technology: www.mitov.com.
Boian Mitov is also a founding member of the Free
Pascal and Lazarus Foundation.
http://foundation.freepascal.org/
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
 CREATE AN ANDROID PACKAGE PAGE 1/11
INCLUDING HOW TO USE THE EMULATOR
WITH CODE AND WORKING APK BY DETLEF OVERBEEK
INTRODUCTION
In this article we will create a Multi Device Application on
an emulated android device.
We are going to use the Multi Device Application we also
used in Issue 4 2016 'How to build an app in xml'.
We also show where you could find the information to use
any of your devices to run a Multi Device Application. How
to do this varies per device so we can not explain it fully
within the scope of this article. However we hope to point
you into the right direction by showing how to do it with a
Samsung S5 -android version 5.0.1. and for the emulator
we chose for the NEXUS 6 -because it seemed to be a
smaller item and that might run faster
THE EMULATOR
Before we try to test the application we will explain
some basics about android emulators.
WHAT IS AN ANDROID EMULATOR?
An android emulator is an Android Virtual Device (AVD)
that represents a specific Android device.
You can use an Android emulator as a target
platform to run and test your Android applications
on your PC, an Android device connected.
THE ADVANTAGE OF THE EMULATOR IS THAT YOU CAN
DESIGN FOR ALL KINDS OF MOBILES AND EVEN PADS.
To create an Android emulator
(made available by Google as part of the Android SDK),
your machine should at least have the following
hard and software items:
Intel Core i5 CPU (of your computer)
rather even faster
4GB of RAM
GPU emulation must be listed in the
hardware list of the emulator image
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
An Android emulator is installed
by default during the RAD Studio
installation. You should allow this emulator to be
installed during the installation of DELPHI.
This emulator is used as the default target for an
Android application, so that you can create and
run an Android application on your development
system without an Android device connected.
You better NOT use an Android emulator on a
virtual machine (VM), there is no GPU support
for the emulator on VMs. However, if you are
running Delphi on a VM on a Mac OS X
computer, you can consider using a remote
emulator on the Mac, because the emulator does not
work on VMs.
Although an emulator might run on a VM, the
emulator will not actually run an application.
ANDROID EMULATORS ARE HEAVILY
HARDWARE-DEPENDENT.
That means it has two effects:
1. the hardware is being emulated
2. the hardware on which the emulator runs.
If the error messages about OpenGL ES pops
up when you try to run your Android Emulator,
this means that your GPU is probably not suitable.
If you want to create your own ANDROID EMULATOR,
think of creating an emulator for each Android
device you want to support. Keep in mind that
Android emulators often run so slow that some
developers consider them as unusable.
29
CREATE AN ANDROID PACKAGE
INCLUDING HOW TO USE THE EMULATOR PAGE 2/11
WITH CODE AND WORKING APK
It is a well-known performance issue that Android
emulators are extremely slow. If you really think
so you might try Turbo Cocoa. (In the two earlier
articles of BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE issue number
51and 52 is explained how this tool for android helps
certainly worth a test: www.TurboCocoa you can
even ask for a discount if you are a BLAISE
PASCAL MAGAZINE subscriber). Android
emulators run much slower than real devices due
to the ARM platform emulation on top of a non-ARM
system. If performance prevents you from using an
Android emulator side by side with Delphi, you
could run and debug your Android Application
remotely.
Android emulators need a lot of machine resources
and for the CPU. Running an Android emulator
and RAD Studio side by side on the same PC might
be very troublesome, depending on the CPU and
Memory of your development PC. Especially do
not do this on a virtual machine (VM).
RUN AND DEBUG YOUR ANDROID
APPLICATION REMOTELY
If you need to run an Android emulator and you
are not able to use your development PC, you can
run your Android emulator on a second machine,
and have your development PC connected to this
second machine using SSH, so that Delphi can
detect and use any Android emulator running on
that second machine.
Note: This method is not restricted to Android
emulators; you can use this method with Android
devices connected to the second machine as well.
Because of obvious reasons, emulators do of
course not have all of the features that real devices
provide, although you can emulate some of those
features like geo location.
NDK (The Android NDK is a toolset that lets you
implement parts of your app using native-code
languages such as C and C++. For certain types of apps,
this can help you reuse code libraries written in those
languages.)may improve application performance.
This is usually true for many processor-bound
applications. Many multimedia applications and
video games use native code for processor-
intensive tasks. The performance improvements
can come from three sources. Firstly, the native
code is compiled to a binary code and run directly
on OS. Secondly while Java code is translated into
Java byte-code and interpreted by
Dalvik Virtual Machine (VM).
30
Thirdley At Android 2.2 or higher,
a Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler is added
to Dalvik VM to analyze and optimize the Java
byte-code while the program is running (for
example, JIT can compile a part of the byte-code to
binary code before its execution). But in many cases,
native code still runs faster than Java code. Java code is
run by Dalvik VM on Android. Dalvik VM is specially
designed for systems with constrained hardware
resources (memory space, processor speed, and so on).
ANDROID EMULATORS REQUIRE
A SEPARATE GPU
(Graphics processing unit)
A graphics processing unit (GPU), also occasionally
called visual processing unit (VPU), is a specialized
electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and
alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a
frame buffer intended for output to a display. GPUs are
used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal
computers, workstations, and game consoles. Modern
GPUs are very efficient at manipulating computer
graphics and image processing, and their highly parallel
structure makes them more efficient than general-
purpose CPUs for algorithms where the processing of
large blocks of data is done in parallel.
In a personal computer, a GPU can be present on a
video card, or it can be embedded on the motherboard
orin certain CPUson the CPU die (integrated
Circuit).
Android emulators are very much hardware-
dependent.
This means the hardware being emulated as well
as the hardware on which the emulator runs.
Therefore we recommend that you verify you
have a suitable graphics card on your
development system.
1. Open Control Panel\Appearance and
Personalization\Display\Screen Resolution.
2. Click Advanced Settings.
3. Take a look at the displayed properties of
your graphics card.
If you do not have a suitable GPU, it is probably
not worth your time to create and attempt to run
an Android Emulator. Find another development
system that does have a suitable GPU.
We do not recommend Intel GPUs.
If you receive error messages about OpenGL
ES when you try to run your Android emulator,
this means that your GPU is probably not
usable.
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
CREATE AN ANDROID PACKAGE
INCLUDING HOW TO USE THE EMULATOR PAGE 3/11
WITH CODE AND WORKING APK

You cant change things

that they dont want you
to change at least not easily.
Whats Inside?
In addition to the operating system itself,
the System Image contains wallpapers,
sounds, icon images, configuration and
property files, the kernel, and a whole bunch
of apps.
When you flash a custom ROM like
CyanogenMod or AOKP, youre essentially
replacing your System Image with a new
one with all the customizations, settings,
and apps that the ROM authors have put
spent tireless hours crafting into their
custom ROM. These custom ROMs are
usually kept more up-to-date than their
stock counterparts, and typically run faster
and more smoothly. Most have fewer pre-
installed apps (which we affectionately refer
to as Bloatware), so you have more room to
put the content you want (movies, music,
apps, wallpapers, etc.).

Flashrom can be a universal flash

programming utility used to detect, read,
verify, erase, or write BIOS chips in DIP,
PLCC, SOIC, TSOP, or BGA packages. It
supports parallel, LPC, FWH and SPI
flash interfaces. It can be used to flash
firmware images such as BIOS or coreboot,
or to back up an existing firmware.

Before you create an Android emulator, you need If you installed the Android SDK and NDK during
to install an Android system image that your RAD Studio installation, a valid Android system
emulators can use. image should already be shown as Installed in the
Android SDK Manager. In this case, you do not
What is the System Image?
need to install another Android system image.
In desktop and laptop computers, the System Image is
Follow these steps:
basically the operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux,
Unix, etc.) that you spend all your time in. You turn on 1. Start the Android SDK Manager
your computer, wait while it boots, then run all your (select Start | All Programs | Embarcadero RAD
apps and do all your work on the desktop which lives Studio | Android Tools).
inside the System Image. On Android its not that 2. In the packages tree, locate and check the
dissimilar. ARM EABI v7a System Image node within the
When Android boots up it takes you right into the first Android node in the list. For example:
System Image. Most users spend their lives running the
Android 4.2.2 (API 17) or Android 4.3 (API
stock.System Image the one that came pre-installed
18)
on their phone or tablet. That image contains all the
settings, configurations, and apps that both the OEM
and the carrier have decided are best for you. They
update it whenever they get around to it (unless they
have a new phone or tablet that they want you to buy).

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32 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

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3. Click Install 1 package. (Clear any
checkboxes that were auto-selected.)
4. In the Choose Packages to Install page, click
Accept License, and then click Install to
install the system image.
To create an Android emulator on your system,
follow these steps:
1. Start the Android SDK Manager (select Start |
All Programs | Embarcadero RAD Studio |
Android SDKs | Android AVD Manager).
2. In the Android Virtual Device Manager, click
the New button to create a new virtual
device.
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
In the Create new Android Virtual Device (AVD) dialog
box, select an Android device to emulate, and enter
the details describing the Android device you want
to emulate. In order to run the Multi Device Aplication
the Android emulator must meet the following
requirements:
1. In Target, select an Android SDK with an
API level that is 17 or higher. The drop-down
list contains your installed versions of the
Android SDK.
2. Under Emulation Options,
check Use Host GPU.
3. In Device, select the Android device
HINT: Emulating an older Android device like
the Nexus S might be faster than emulating a
newer, larger device like the Nexus 10.
33
CREATE AN ANDROID PACKAGE
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WITH CODE AND WORKING APK

We were not able to install it at first time, in the

correct way. We then decided which was very
helpful to just try a minimal design and find out if
it would run at all. It didn't.
After that we suddenly saw there was an option
on the AVD: Use Host GPU. We chose for that and
started agin, and guess what:
it worked.

34 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

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WITH CODE AND WORKING APK

After doing this we also tried it on our own design

and again it worked.
Choose Use Host GPU
1. Click OK twice to create your new
Android emulator.
2. You can now view your emulator in the
Android Virtual Device Manager.

Delphi lists your Android Emulators in the Project EMULATORS ARE NOTORIOUSLY SLOW TO
Manager, within the Target node of the Android Target START AND TO RUN, SO STARTING THE
platform node.
EMULATOR BEFOREHAND MEANS THAT
NOTE:
YOUR APP CAN GET TO THE EMULATOR
As a reference, here are the default installed
locations of the Android development tools as MORE QUICKLY.
installed by the RAD Studio installer:
If you need to start the Android SDK Manager
directly, here is its location:
Path for Win 7
c:\Users\Public\Documents\RAD Studio
\12.0\PlatformSDKs\
adt-bundle-windows-x86-20130522
\SDK Manager.exe
This is Delphi XE 5 (12)

c:\Users\Public\Documents\
Embarcadero\Studio\18.0\ The recommended way to start an Android
PlatformSDKs\ emulator is by using the Android Virtual Device
android-sdk-windows\SDK Manager, which can be started from the Android
Manager.exe SDK Manager.
This is Delphi Berlin (18) To start an Android emulator such as the default
emulator installed in Delphi:
If SDK Manager.exe does not start, use 1. Start the Android Virtual Device Manager
Android.bat,which is located here: (select Start | All Programs | Embarcadero RAD
C:\Users\Public\Documents\ Studio | Android SDKs | Android AVD Manager).
RAD Studio\12.0\PlatformSDKs\
adt-bundle-windows-x86-20130522\
sdk\tools\android.bat
This is Delphi XE 5 (12)
c:\Users\Public\Documents\
Embarcadero\Studio\18.0\
PlatformSDKs\
android-sdk-windows\tools\
This is Delphi Berlin (18)

STARTING AN ANDROID EMULATOR

When the emulator is the current target platform,
you do not have to start the emulator before
running your Android app on the emulator.
However, we recommend that you start
your Android emulator separately,
perhaps before you start RAD Studio.

Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 35

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INCLUDING HOW TO USE THE EMULATOR PAGE 8/11
WITH CODE AND WORKING APK

1. Select the emulator and click Start.

2. Then click Launch on the Launch Options
dialog box.
3. Your emulator should now start
(this does take ten minutes, good for coffee):

36 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

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WITH CODE AND WORKING APK
In the Project Manager, your emulator should
appear in the Target node of the Android target
platform, with its assigned port (such as (5554)):
Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE
HINT:
If the Project Manager does not
show your running Android emulator as
running, with the same icon as in the screen shot
above, see Using the Target Node. In the Project
Manager, ensure that the emulator's name is in
boldface and the port number is indicated in
parentheses (such as (5554)), indicating that the
emulator is running and is the current selected
target platform.
You could manually refresh the list of available
targets for a target platform (for all devices: iOS
Device or Android), right-click the Target node
and select Refresh.
Before we can run the multi device application
on the emulator we will have to activate
debugging on the emulated device. This can be
found under
Settings\Developer options\Debugging.
To run the application from Delphi we follow the
next steps.
TO RUN YOUR APPLICATION ON YOUR
ANDROID EMULATOR
1. Open your Android application in
RAD Studio.
2. In the Project Manager, enable the
emulator as the target platform.
(double click on the target)
3. In the device selector in the FireMonkey
Mobile Form Designer, select the device
that matches the emulator you are using.
For example:
4. Run your application:
To run with debugging (Run > Run or F9)
To run without debugging
(Run > Run Without Debugging or
Shift+Ctrl+F9)
5. Compile and deploy messages should
appear in the IDE.
6. If the emulator is not running, the IDE
displays:
"The selected emulator is not
running. Do you want start it?"
Click Yes.
A "Launching emulator" message is
displayed.
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7. Open your emulator screen and

watch for the app to appear.

38 Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE

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WITH CODE AND WORKING APK

Delphi builds your Android application and runs

it on the selected Android emulator.
If the active Android emulator is not running,
RAD Studio shows a dialogue box that gives you
the choice to start your Android emulator.
If your Android emulator screen is locked, unlock
it to access your application.

The code for this article is available at your

private download site.

If you miss anything or have no access please let

us know... Office@BlaisePascal.eu

Issue Nr 5 2016 BLAISE PASCAL MAGAZINE 39

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