Reference counting? Except for some basic types, like the string, you have to manually manage memory.
And the other point you are trying to make, I still don't get it. You imply that the guy is doing it wrong for using Delphi where speed is important, and you come here and say that Delphi is, indeed, a fast language.
What if speed is not what the language is intended for? If the language is intended for other purpose, and speed comes as a bonus, I don't know how that could be a bad thing.
Yeah unfortunately the actual Delphi compiler is stuck in stasis, and has received no love in terms of targeting newer cpu instructions like SSE etc, which is why C++ can achieve better performance these days, back in the day Delphi was as fast as C++ for general performance, and Delphi absolutely killed it in terms of productivity.
We started out as a TP shop, so there is code dating back to the 1980s that is still used today (=\)
The rumor is Borland/CodeGear/Embarcadero lost the source code to the delphi compiler, which is the reason there had been no additions to the compiler, but who knows if that is legitimate, or should be an entry on snopes
And the other point you are trying to make, I still don't get it. You imply that the guy is doing it wrong for using Delphi where speed is important, and you come here and say that Delphi is, indeed, a fast language.
What if speed is not what the language is intended for? If the language is intended for other purpose, and speed comes as a bonus, I don't know how that could be a bad thing.