Technical Overview for Development and Deployment
If you are planning on developing applications using the RAD Studio IDE, then this page will tell you all you need to know about these top two questions from developers.
- What hardware and OS do I need for development of native applications?
- Where can I deploy the applications I build?
Technical Overview for a Development machine
The RAD Studio IDE is a Window application that compiles applications for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux, all from Windows. The RAD Studio IDE connects to remote platforms using its remote Platform Assistant application called PAServer. Through PA Server the IDE deploys files, code signs applications, manages SDKs and enables remote debugging of the applications you develop.
Write, compile, package and deploy enterprise grade cross-platform apps
Development machine Hardware Requirements
RAD Studio IDE requires at least:
- 1.8 GHz or faster dual-core processor. Quad-core or better recommended. Single-core is not supported.
- 3 GB of RAM. 8GB of RAM recommended.
- Between 6 GB and 60 GB1 of available disk space. Using a solid state drive (SSD)is strongly recommended.
- DirectX 11 capable video card that runs at 1440x900; a 1080 vertical resolution screen is recommended.
- Windows 10 Anniversary Edition is recommended and required for development for the Windows 10 store.
1 Depends on your RAD Studio edition and the features selected during the installation. For more information, see Estimated Required Space.
For the latest installation notes, and detailed specification the online docwiki documentation
Requirements for Supported Target Platforms
Requirements to develop projects for supported target platforms:
RAD Studio supports the following target platforms:
| OS | Supported Versions | Target Platform (Projects Pane node) |
Supported Languages | Supported UI Frameworks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delphi | C++ | FireMonkey | VCL | |||
| Windows | Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 (SP1+), Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2012 R2 | 32-bit Windows | ||||
| 64-bit Windows | ||||||
| macOS | 10.13 High Sierra, 10.14 Mojave, 10.15 Catalina | 64-bit macOS | ||||
| iOS | iOS 11, iOS 12, iOS 13 | iOS Device 64-bit | ||||
| iOS Simulator | ||||||
| Android* | Marshmallow (6), Nougat (7), Oreo (8), Pie (9), Android (10) | 32-bit Android | ||||
| 64-bit Android | ||||||
| Linux | Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and RedHat Enterprise Linux (version 7) | 64-bit Linux | ** | |||
* RAD Studio only supports real devices (no Android emulator support) with NEON support.
** Available via third party add-on
Technical Advice for developers
Advice for Apple macOS and iOS development
In most countries, developing for iOS and macOS requires Apple hardware to code sign native applications. This is due to EULA restrictions on the macOS that requires it to run on Apple hardware. If you want to manage costs, it’s not uncommon for a team of developers to share an Apple device, such as a Mac Mini and use VNC access, or to rent a mac in the cloud.
If you prefer to develop from a laptop, then many developers get a MacBook Pro and run a virtual machine for Windows (using e.g. VMWare Fusion or Parallels). It is then possible to install PA Server on the Mac and run a fast local connection to enable access to the iOS Simulator, to run and test iOS and macOS builds, and code sign applications on the Apple hardware.
Advice on Android development
Android devices can be connected to directly and are considerably faster than using the Android emulator.
