I found the perfect IDE for Freepascal.

[WILL]

2. Lazarus is a Delphi clone. So it is more than just a simple IDE, it is also a RAD application. It has all the extra baggage associated with that: the visual form designer, the visual component palette, the object inspector. This makes the program more bloated with features and therefore more bug-ridden than a simple IDE. It just so happens that all I really want is a simple IDE, and I don't need all those RAD features.

I run Lazarus after being a long time Delphi[size=9px](and before that Turbo Pascal)[/size] user. I have found that you can configure it to work as an IDE-only AND a RAD App enviroment, just like you can with Delphi. Now, if Delphi doesn't float your boat either, this doesn't weight in much as a factor for you. Just know that you can strip all the Object Library and visual compenent stuff from your program just as you can with Delphi.

I'm currently using Lazarus to create my latest game project [size=9px](which doesn't make use of any LCL or component libraries of any kind, just my own libraries and good ole JEDI-SDL)[/size] and I am finding it to work well for what I need it to do. Plus the Free Pascal compiler capabilities give me options that make me salvate at the mouth for hours. :drool:

Now it does give me a 989kb exe file, but I'm not using any size reducing options and have not used any external useless code stripping or compressing apps on it. That seems to be my biggest beef, other than that I like it just as much as I did Delphi.


Besides Lazarus [size=9px](and of course the outdated Dev-Pascal)[/size], what other FPC capable IDEs and enviroments do you guys use or favor?I should do up a master list one day.

[Almindor]

Two main reasons:

1. It's based on the GTK1 library, not the GTK2 library. I prefer the look, feel and functionality of the GTK2 controls; I find the GTK1 controls to be ugly, especially the fonts. All of the non-command-line programs I use in my Linux distribution are GTK2 apps; surely it's time for Lazarus to join the rest of the world in this respect (or else go the KDE route)?

This can be fixed. make LCL_PLATFORM="gtk2" now produces rather nice looking gtk2/gnome IDE. Problem is that it still has that stupid refresh/speed bug. I'm really angry nobody(including my lazy ass) looked at that yet.

2. Lazarus is a Delphi clone. So it is more than just a simple IDE, it is also a RAD application. It has all the extra baggage associated with that: the visual form designer, the visual component palette, the object inspector. This makes the program more bloated with features and therefore more bug-ridden than a simple IDE. It just so happens that all I really want is a simple IDE, and I don't need all those RAD features.

You can configure Lazarus as you wish. Somehow I still think it's more lightweight and fast than most other even simpler IDEs out there (Except perhaps for the synedit part which is getting improved tho)

The IDE I use at the moment also has its downsides, but these are not as significant to me as the downsides of Lazarus. There's not much in it, but eventually one has to make a choice.

Ofcourse It's your choice. I just think most people don't know what lazarus is capable of and how lightweight it manages to be with all those features. For example I bet you have no idea what ctrl+shift+c does I urge you to try it!

[cragwolf]

This can be fixed. make LCL_PLATFORM="gtk2" now produces rather nice looking gtk2/gnome IDE. Problem is that it still has that stupid refresh/speed bug. I'm really angry nobody(including my lazy ass) looked at that yet.

Yes, I've tried it, too, and I've also experienced that refresh/lag bug. Maybe they've fixed a few things since, but I also found some problems with some of the preferences windows and controls when I compiled it with the gtk2 widget set.

You can configure Lazarus as you wish.

Yes, I see WILL mentioned this as well.

Ofcourse It's your choice. I just think most people don't know what lazarus is capable of and how lightweight it manages to be with all those features. For example I bet you have no idea what ctrl+shift+c does I urge you to try it!

I didn't know about that. I just tried it and it adds an identifying comment to the top of a class in the interface section. Is that right? That's neat fluff.

Of course the other nice thing about my current IDE is that it also does C/C++, LaTeX, HTML, which are 3 languages that I use fairly frequently, so having the one tool for each job is pretty cool. But I reckon I'd switch to Lazarus in the blink of an eye if they could fix up the GTK2 support.

[Almindor]

I didn't know about that. I just tried it and it adds an identifying comment to the top of a class in the interface section. Is that right? That's neat fluff.

No you missed the point

It "completes" the implementation of your class/functions. Let me make example:

[pascal]
unit bla;

interface

type
TMyClass = class
private
function DoSomething: Integer;
public
constructor Create;
property Wow: Integer read GetWow write SetWow;
end;

implementation

end.
[/pascal]

If I press ctrl+shift+c while my cursor is in that class that unit becomes:

[pascal]
unit bla;

interface

type
TMyClass = class
private
function GetWow: Integer; // autoadded
procedure SetWow(aValue: Integer); // autoadded
function DoSomething: Integer;
public
constructor Create;
property Wow: Integer read GetWow write SetWow;
end;

implementation

{ TMyCLass }

function TMyClass.GetWow: Integer;
begin

end;

procedure TMyClass.SetWow(aValue: Integer);
begin

end;

function TMyClass.DoSomething: Integer;
begin

end;

constructor TMyClass.Create;
begin

end;

end.
[/pascal]

So it's basicly a code generator and let me tell your it saves ages of time
Not to mention other features like ctrl+click etc.[/quote]

[WILL]

I'm guessing code refactoring is soon to come?

[cragwolf]

Oh, OK, now I actually remember that from the last time I tested Lazarus. Bad memory. Well that feature is more than neat fluff, it really is time saving. It can get quite tedious retyping the function or procedure definition in the implementation section.

[alexione]

I also use Lazarus, it's really nice piece of work! I didn't made any LCL-based apps yet, but as FPC IDE, it's really great (try also ctrl+shift+down/up, ctrl+shift+s). Someone even fixed few bugs I had reported! And great news is that after a long time, I can use debugger under win32!!! Try it - it worths!

[marcov]

Oh, OK, now I actually remember that from the last time I tested Lazarus. Bad memory. Well that feature is more than neat fluff, it really is time saving. It can get quite tedious retyping the function or procedure definition in the implementation section.

Try ctrl-shift up/down in a function and alt-arrow up.

(btw these are also valid delphi shortcuts)

[Frodlou]

So... the big question now... which has a debugger comparable to Delphi's?

I use d2k5 rather than fpc something like... 30% because of the ide, and 70% because the debugger. Also, d2k5 finally has inlines, was about time!

I tried lazarus over year ago and had a bunch of major issues with it.

Some specific details. I'm writing a multi-threaded app that is 100% original, no vcl or such thing. Do my own task management and thread syncing, timer and input and stuff. Lazarus always broke down while debugging some of the system stuff, plus i hated how it looked. From the other posts, i take the looks have improved, but the debugger?

In delphi 2k5, the debugger can handle over 90% of my debugging needs. It would crash/deadlock/slow to a crawl in some parts, but those parts are mostly done, so i rarely get funky fatal errors like before. Rest of the time, it's fast and friendly, as it should be.

The fpc ide was a bit rough, but it's debugger was so inneficient, that's why i left it.

Anyone tried delphi 2006 btw? How's the ide? Debugger? Inline support? Macro support? And what's that about reverse engineering

[WILL]

So... the big question now... which has a debugger comparable to Delphi's?

Lazarus, Lazarus, Lazarus! I used it just as I always have when I programed with Delphi. AND I;'ve been away for almost a month+ so... I can only imagine how much it's improved since I last updated it.

I'd say that the debugging can very easily be compaired to Delphi 7 (as I have the most experience with the earlier mainstream Delphi and not the 2000 series. But, if you highlight some code and right click in the Editor you'll see some nice refactoring options right there much like what I saw in 2005! I don't know if it's implimented yet, I've not tried it myself (yeah yeah, call me chicken. )), but from the looks of things Lazarus is starting to come to a point where it'll be just as good as if you cracked open Delphi and started coding the exact same way.

Eventually such things as the filesize issue and whatever other quirks will get worked out. There might even be room for a Game Development version in the near future!


BTW... how do you get yourself off that darn mantius bug report mailing list? I think I might have accidentally put myself as a developer or something. My inbox is consistantly flooded with bug reports and all the problems Lazarus has. :roll: Nice to know, but damn inconvenient to be shoved into my inbox.

:lol: If I don't get off this mailing list soon, I'm gonna have to write a full review of Lazarus soon.