The fastest compiler in the world was originally Pascal, at least that’s what its developers claimed. A special technology for writing platform-independent programs was also created with it, and it was actively used in the Java programming language.
But his IDE worked normally only with DOS operating system (here we should make a reservation that the concept of IDE may not be very applicable to the development environment that existed at that time).
Then the Windows platform appeared, and of course it needed software and, consequently, a suitable environment for its development. In the 80s-90s, the optimal solution for Windows PCs was the Turbo Pascal IDE compiler (made by Borland). The word “Turbo” in the name meant that this built-in compiler gave high compilation speed and good quality codes. The Turbo Pascal environment provided for code debugging and had many useful examples. Therefore, at that time, Turbo Pascal was recognized as the standard for the Pascal language.
Developers had to write bulky codes even for the simplest programs, with huge blocks for windows, menus, fonts. It was necessary to free memory on purpose, to think over the “drawing” of buttons, etc. At the same time, the Windows GUI was quite powerful, the operating system needed updates. This would have helped developers considerably.
And in the 90’s the work (several projects at once) on creating a new programming language and development environment for Windows began. This is how Visual Basic appeared.
As for Pascal, by the mid-90s it had already “withered”. Borland specialists made efforts to improve it, but in the process it turned out that there was so much to change and finalize that it would end up being almost another language. They developed their own IDE with a graphical interface for it. This language together with the resulting new programming environment was called Delphi.
Where does this name come from? Delphi is an ancient Greek city, which in mythology is associated with the name of Apollo, the patron of arts and god of wisdom. Legends say that it was in Delphi that his main sanctuary was located, where anyone wishing to know his fate received prophecies from the priestesses-sevillas serving Apollo.
The name Delphi was suggested by Danny Thorpe during a brainstorming session. He believed that the name of the product should immediately indicate its exclusivity, its unique capabilities for database processing. And Delphi is ideally suited for this. And the head of the research group of developers Chuck Jazdzewski emphasized that Delphi also echoes the well-known in this area name Oracle. It turns out that the phrase “Delphi Oracle”, which speaks for itself (at least for those who understand what we are talking about).
Since the end of 1993, the Borland Delphi programming language has been used by Russian developers who have appreciated its capabilities.