The usual problem is that the various cross-platform UI toolkits not only fall into the uncanny valley but also only support one programming language best (in this case, Pascal). Only the incentives of the biggest cross-platform browser vendors align in such a way that they pursue native UI effectively.

Recent discussion: Why I use Object Pascal | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15490345 (2017Oct:268points,233comments)

Isn't delphi procedural just like e.g. Swing/AWT or Windows Forms? (Been a long time since I worked with Delphi). I think XAML/XUL and similar declarative GUIs are better.

No. (Caveat, last version I used was version 5 from 1999.)

Delphi forms are in one of two formats.

1) Binary serialization of the form data (this is the older versions, pre 4/5)

2) A textual representation.

The code for a Delphi form was pre-XML, but it looked like a set of standard markup. There were resources (Form, Button, Edit, Label - these types of control) and they were laid out in a hierarchical developer readable form in blocks. The form code was streamed to/from the file (the files were embedded as resources in the Eve, and the form was read and re-constituted at runtime as well as design time.) Borland made a massive deal about the "two way editing" one could do to the forms. The developer was able to cut and paste controls, and the controls were cut/copied as straight text, which could be pasted to notepad (for example) IIRC.

I’m so over XMLish and it’s declaritiveness. So please, no, don’t wish for this.