Delphi module weakness: Unit name should not be coupled to filename.

Delphi should be independent from the under lying file system.

I consider this unit name to file system name coupling a weakness in Delphi's design.

It scares programmers from using the unit name as a specifier.

What if the file has to be renamed, or what if a version needs to be added to the file name like so:

unit_test_version_001
unit_test_version_002

This would break all code that was written as:


unit_test.variable_a := 500;

^ code is broken everywhere.

Renaming the file does not have to be a problem if the unit name declare in the file itself is independent as follows:

unit unit_test;

Now nothing will break.


In case versioning is needed it can also be implemented:

unit unit_test_version_001;


For this coupling reason I consider the "modularity" of Delphi a failure !

It's very rarely used.

Instead classes are used to try and seperate name spaces/scopes leading to sometimes unnecessary complexities for rapid application development/prototyping.

Bye,
  Skybuck.