Talk:Size Matters

Most of this "Size Matters" (Size Doesn't Matter) page is a bunch of "In My Opinion" rubbish nonsense. This article needs an author, because it is highly biased and very opinionated. It is definitely not the view of all FPC programmers - but it makes it look like it is, by placing no author at the bottom of the page. I can sort of guess who wrote the article though, because it is an opinion of many FPC developers.

First of all - let's get a few things straight. What is FPC good for? Why would anyone use FPC over Delphi? For linux. For BSD. What is linux and BSD good for? Server applications. What does a server application entail? Bandwidth.

Size is important in CGI programs and large huge scale servers. Guess what - if I have a shared server with 500 CGI programs on it from all sorts of users, then eventually those 300MB FPC executables are going to start affecting bandwidth costs and hard drive costs.

Big hard drives are very nice - but guess what - a big hard drive is extremely hard to SCAN and FIX errors. A big hard drive requires much more time to defragment. A big hard drive is extremely hard to back up - since it takes DAYS rather than hours to back up.

So my question is - if size doesn't matter - Why use FPC? Why not use .NET or Java?

Think about what FPC is useful for. FPC is not useful for windows GUI programs (despite what Lazarus team wants you to believe). FPC is a very niche market that must support the niche market - your niche market is CGI and server programs, systems administration programs, and embedded devices. Delphi cannot create BSD or Linux CGI programs, or embedded software. Delphi can create GUI programs.

CGI programs, embedded software, and systems tools are small. Big GUI programs are big. FPC is not a GUI generator.

Find your niche market. Discover what people are using FPC for in the real world. I'm not talking about those hobbyist people that are using FPC to make Kylix like GUI applications for linux. That market is dead. If linux GUI programs were really what FPC was used for - then I could totally agree that having a 300KB app on ONE PERSON's 200GB hard drive isn't a big deal.

But you try and debug a server with 500 bloatware 3MB programs and then we'll start talking. You want FPC to be taken seriously in the systems world? You want it to be taken seriously in the web world? Then start focusing on that world - because let me repeat - no one is using FPC to create GUI applications. By no one, I mean ask yourself why not just use Delphi. I know there is Pixel. One GUI application. But I'll bet you most people use FPC where Delphi does not shine. Delphi does not shine in the server market. The bandwidth market.

I'm not saying that FPC must create 20KB systems and cgi programs. I'm saying that a 1MB CGI program that loads HELLO WORLD is not acceptable. I realize that FPC can still create fairly small systems programs - and this is good. The current state of FPC is not ridiculous. But it is heading that way - with the attitude I see, like "size never matters". It's funny that in the article someone mentions that "FPC 2.1.1 beats delphi". Huh? What does it matter - speed matters? Beats delphi in what? So speed matters but size doesn't? All of a sudden speed can matter but size is really not important? That's like saying that size matters, but speed doesn't.

So basically the article is rubbish - because it claims that fpc 2.1.1 is going to beat the pants off delphi, while at the same time it says that size aren't really important because FPC is geared toward application development. Applications don't require speed - hint, hint - most of software applications that run on the desktop are IDLE 90 percent of the time. Speed is important in file searching, web server, and systems stuff. Is FPC for systems programming and server programming, or is it for desktop software programming? It seems that some folks think FPC is a great application development tool. I've never seen FPC used as such. I see it being used on the system, on the server, and in niche areas like gameboy, embedded devices. I don't see very many good GUI programs coming from FPC. Nor do I know of anyone that uses very many desktop programs any more - since everyone is so dumb to use simple things called web browsers.

Yes, web browser GUI's suck - but they are good enough. If FPC keeps focusing on the desktop software application market, then FPC has no developers. Because people already have good tools to make desktop software applications - and over 90 percent of desktop software applications run on MS Windows - so no one needs to have a portable compiler to compile their GUI programs on BSD and Linux. What people do need, is a systems, database, and server compiler - which is mainly what FPC has been/should be used for in the real world.