Some of the tools used by Penguin Programs:

  • Borland CodeGear Embarcadero Delphi
    Delphi
    Mainly Delphi 2009 but also still version 5 and 7 although only maintenance work. All new applications are being developed in Delphi 2009, not because the development environment is so much better (in my opionion it isn't) but because D2009 supports Unicode. More and more applications end up being translated to non-Western languages and to support that in a sensible way, Unicode is essential. In fact, one recently developed application has been translated into more than 20 languages, including Chinese (both traditional and simplified).
    For all my Delphi development, I use a number of VCL libraries, e.g. Raize Components, TurboPower (unfortunately does not exist as a company anymore, the code still works fine though), TeeChart, MADcollection (brilliant), Plasmatech, TMS etc.


  • Eclipse classic by the Eclipse Project
    Eclipse
    Coming from Delphi and Pascal, moving to Java was so easy I sometimes forgot what language I was using (which generally did lead to compiler errors since Java does not like things like "begin" and "end"). Language resemblance together with the excellent Eclipse IDE and it's utterly wonderful lookup system (Delphi's "code insight" still is way too slow) made the transition real easy. To date I have developed, using the (also excellent) Android plugin and the absolutely copious amount of documentation two applications for Android devices.
    It should be clear from the above that I'm impressed both with Eclipse and Google.


  • Microsoft's Visual Studio 2008
    Visual Studio 2008
    Used for development of .NET, ASP.NET and .NET/CF applications. I have never been able to come to terms with C++ (too ugly) or Visual Basic (too ... I don't know, I just don't like it), so I use C# (which I really like). Not doing much .NET work though, it has to be said. Is anyone?


  • Pocket PC
    Pocket PC
    I started developing applications for the Pocket PC (Pocket PC 2002) using embedded Basic but quickly switched to Visual Studio and .NET Compact Framework when that became available. I have developed two (serious) Pocket PC applications:

    • Dialset see http://mapro.skf.com. Select Maintenance knowledge and then from the menu select Download

    • Pocket Profile See http://www.rollprof.com, menu item 'Software'.
      This is the 'baby' brother to the desktop version PC Profile. It has only a limited amount of the capabilities of its bigger brother but it has one big advantage: it allows the user to upload and view the measurement results from the Rollprof directly after measurement, in-situ. And if the Pocket PC is connected to a network (through WiFi), the data can be automatically uploaded to a desktop computer and, optionally, printed.


  • National Instruments LabWindows/CVI and LabView
    LabView
    Used at times when customers require it. This is generally the case when the user wants an application he/she can later easily adapt, which is what LabView (with its visual way of working) is perfectly suited for.
    I quite liked CVI and its very complete set of libraries but it seems NI isn't developing it anymore. LabView I don't like at all and find it totally unsuitable for anything but the smallest of applications. Maintaining anything large which has been written in LabView is my idea of Hell.

  • Others
    Others
    For any other development, such as PHP, Javascript and HTML I use a fairly straightforward editor (EmEditor to be exact). I have tried a number of IDE's but none could really wow me, certainly not the way Eclipse has done. They seemed to be as much in the way as of actual assistance. But maybe that says more about the level of my PHP/Javascript programming than it does about the IDE's. In truth, it's not very profound, certainly not compared to what I do in Delphi.
    I have also tried "Delphi for PHP" but that was just plain terrible. It still sits on one of my development PC's somewhere but only because I have been to lazy to remove it, not because I ever intend to use it.