Components to avoid in Delphi

Question

There are a huge number of components that come with Delphi (XE2), many have been around for along time. Which components should be avoided (the BDE Components for instance), which are out of date (TXPManifest?), and which should be avoided because they are unusable or will just cause grief?

Answer 1

Anything for which you don't have the source. Nothing says "frustrate me" more than not being able to figure out why a component is behaving the way it is because it's poorly documented and being stuck on an old Delphi version because I can't recompile it.

Answer 2

Anything you don't absolutely need.

I am currently maintaining a large application that is dependent on a variety of 3rd party components. In order to upgrade the application, you need to upgrade the components. In the case of vendors that are no longer in business, that's a problem. As a result the entire application is stuck in limbo.