C++ Language Support for the VCL

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C++Builder leverages the Rapid Application Development (RAD) capabilities of the Visual Component Library (VCL) written in Object Pascal. This section explains how Object Pascal language features, constructs, and concepts have been implemented in C++Builder to support the VCL.

This section:

• Compares C++ and Object Pascal object models, describing how C++Builder combines these two approaches.
• Describes how Object Pascal language constructs were translated into C++ counterparts in C++Builder.
• Includes details on keyword extensions that were added to support the VCL. Some of these extensions, like closures and properties, are useful features independent of their support for VCL-based code.

References to C++ classes derived from TObject refer to classes for which TObject is the ultimate, but not necessarily immediate, ancestor. For consistency with the compiler diagnostics, such classes are also referred to as "VCL-style classes."

Topics

• C++ and Object Pascal Object Models
  • Inheritance and Interfaces
  • Object Identity and Instantiation
  • Object Construction for C++Builder VCL
  • Calling Virtual Methods in Base Class Constructors
  • Object Destruction
  • AfterConstruction and BeforeConstruction
  • Class Virtual Functions
• Support for Object Pascal Data Types and Language Concepts
  • Typedefs
  • Classes that Support the Object Pascal Language
  • C++ Language Counterparts to the Object Pascal Language
  • Open Arrays
  • Types Defined Differently
  • Delphi Interfaces
  • Resource Strings
  • Default Parameters
  • Runtime Type Information
  • Unmapped Types
  • C++ Keyword Extensions
  • The __declspec Keyword Extension
• Delphi to C++ types mapping