Very similar to Windows Structured Exception Handling, which the Win32 implementation used, and also looks similar to Java, but without checked exceptions. try/except/end and try/finally/end blocks.

The major differences with C++:

    * objects are references not values, cutting out all the copy constructor,
      assignment operator, destruction on out of scope etc.
    * objects are zero-initialized after allocation and before constructors run
    * constructors are run from most derived to least derived
    * calling Free method checks if Self is nil
    * this + zero init means that you can call '.Free' on all the objects you 
      reference in the destructor without checking if they're nil first, 
      handling partial construction

It's not a memory safe language, but it does give you a bunch of idioms that, if you stick to them, you don't feel nearly as much pain as C++.

Not all objects are references, because Delphi still supports the Turbo Pascal object model for compatibility, regardless of how many years they are deprecated now.

Agree with the rest, I always loved how Borland picked Object Pascal extensions from Apple, merged them with what was going on with Modula languages and C++ during the 1990's, while coming out with something saner.

While at the same time keeping C++ around, as market value when buying the whole package.

What everyone is going crazy regarding Zig, Odin, Jai, C3, whatever improvements over C and C++, where already available in Delphi, Modula-2, Ada and co, with Delphi being the most affordable option until Borland decided to pivot to big corp.