ZylTimer is a high resolution, long-term Delphi & C++Builder timer component which provides a higher precision than the standard Delphi / C++ Builder TTimer component. TTimer component which ships with Delphi & C++Builder uses the Windows Message Queue to generate the OnTimer event. Due to this approach it's impossible to get accurate timer intervals smaller than 15 milliseconds. ZylTimer is a thread based timer and due to this architecture provides a higher precision (1-2 milliseconds), which is inevitable in time critical applications. The standard TTimer component uses the SetTimer API function, so the interval is limited to 2147483647 milliseconds (about 25 days). ZylTimer is a thread based timer and the interval could be set even to hundred years if necessary. It is important to understand that the accuracy of timers is limited. Windows is not a real-time operating system (except Windows CE) and it is not reasonable to expect timers to handle exactly very small time intervals.

Whenever a developer tries to use a component or a tool that renders text, then he/she has to deal with fonts. Whether the component is a GUI control such as a text label or a text box, or a non-GUI component that renders text on a printer canvas, it must be able to process fonts. Here, the choice of fonts that can be used with the component is limited to those that are installed on the system and also by the font types supported by the run-time environment (.NET and JRE). What if you wanted to use a font that is not installed or if you wanted to use a font type that is not supported by the run time?