Delphi high performance

Description

Build fast, scalable, and high performing applications with Delphi Key Features Build efficient and concurrent applications in Delphi with focused examples Identify performance bottlenecks and apply the correct algorithm to increase the performance of applications. Delve into parallel programming and memory management to optimize your code Book Description Delphi is a cross-platform Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that supports rapid application development for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, Google Android, iOS, and now Linux with RAD Studio 10.2. This book will be your guide to build efficient high performance applications with Delphi. The book begins by explaining how to find performance bottlenecks and apply the correct algorithm to fix them. It will teach you how to improve your algorithms before taking you through parallel programming. You'll then explore various tools to build highly concurrent applications. After that, you'll delve into improving the performance of your code and master cross-platform RTL improvements. Finally, we'll go through memory management with Delphi and you'll see how to leverage several external libraries to write better performing programs. By the end of the book, you'll have the knowledge to create high performance applications with Delphi. What you will learn Find performance bottlenecks and easily mitigate them Discover different approaches to fix algorithms Understand parallel programming and work with various tools included with Delphi Master the RTL for code optimization Explore memory managers and their implementation Leverage external libraries to write better performing programs Who This Book Is For This book is for Delphi developers who would like to build high performance applications with Delphi. Prior knowledge of Delphi is assumed. Cover......Page 1 Copyright and Credits......Page 4 Packt Upsell......Page 5 Contributors......Page 7 Table of Contents......Page 9 Preface......Page 13 Chapter 1: About Performance......Page 20 What is performance?......Page 21 Algorithm complexity......Page 22 Big O and Delphi data structures......Page 26 Data structures in practice......Page 30 Mr. Smith's first program......Page 35 Looking at code through the Big O eyes......Page 38 Don't guess, measure!......Page 41 Profiling with TStopwatch......Page 42 Profilers......Page 49 AsmProfiler......Page 50 Sampling Profiler......Page 58 AQTime......Page 60 Nexus Quality Suite......Page 63 Summary......Page 66 Chapter 2: Fixing the Algorithm......Page 68 Responsive user interfaces......Page 69 Updating a progress bar......Page 70 Bulk updates......Page 73 Virtual display......Page 77 Caching......Page 81 Dynamic cache......Page 84 Speeding up SlowCode......Page 90 Summary......Page 92 Chapter 3: Fine-Tuning the Code......Page 94 Delphi compiler settings......Page 95 Code inlining control......Page 96 Optimization......Page 97 Record field alignment......Page 98 Assertions......Page 101 Range checking......Page 102 Extracting common expressions......Page 104 The helpful CPU window......Page 106 A plethora of types......Page 108 Simple types......Page 109 Strings......Page 110 Arrays......Page 112 Records......Page 114 Classes......Page 118 Optimizing method calls......Page 119 Parameter passing......Page 120 Method inlining......Page 125 The magic of pointers......Page 127 Going the assembler way......Page 132 Returning to SlowCode......Page 134 Summary......Page 136 Chapter 4: Memory Management......Page 137 Optimizing strings and array allocations......Page 138 Memory management functions......Page 142 Dynamic record allocation......Page 144 FastMM internals......Page 149 Memory allocation in a parallel world......Page 153 Replacing the default memory manager......Page 158 ScaleMM......Page 165 TBBMalloc......Page 166 Fine-tuning SlowCode......Page 168 Summary......Page 170 Chapter 5: Getting Started with the Parallel World......Page 172 Processes and threads......Page 173 When to parallelize the code?......Page 175 Most common problems......Page 176 Never access UI from a background thread......Page 177 Simultaneous reading and writing......Page 180 Sharing a variable......Page 182 Synchronization......Page 186 Critical sections......Page 187 Other locking mechanisms......Page 193 A short note on coding style......Page 199 Shared data with built-in locking......Page 200 Interlocked operations......Page 202 Object life cycle......Page 205 Communication......Page 208 Windows messages......Page 209 Synchronize and Queue......Page 213 Polling......Page 214 Performance......Page 216 Third-party libraries......Page 217 Summary......Page 219 TThread......Page 220 Advanced TThread......Page 226 Setting up a communication channel......Page 229 Sending messages from a thread......Page 233 Implementing a timer......Page 236 Summary......Page 241 Chapter 7: Exploring Parallel Practices......Page 243 Tasks and patterns......Page 244 Variable capturing......Page 245 Tasks......Page 247 Exceptions in tasks......Page 250 Parallelizing a loop......Page 253 Thread pooling......Page 257 Async/Await......Page 258 Join......Page 262 Join/Await......Page 265 Future......Page 269 Parallel for......Page 271 Pipelines......Page 277 Creating the pipeline......Page 279 Stages......Page 282 Displaying the result and shutting down......Page 286 Summary......Page 287 Chapter 8: Using External Libraries......Page 289 Using object files......Page 290 Object file formats......Page 292 Object file linking in practice......Page 294 Using C++ libraries......Page 298 Using a proxy DLL in Delphi......Page 304 Summary......Page 307 About performance......Page 310 Fixing the algorithm......Page 312 Fine-tuning the code......Page 313 Memory management......Page 315 Getting started with the parallel world......Page 317 Working with parallel tools......Page 320 Exploring parallel practices......Page 321 Using external libraries......Page 322 Final words......Page 323 Other Books You May Enjoy......Page 325 Index......Page 327