Lazarus (IDE)
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Lazarus IDE 1.0 running on Mac OS X
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| Developer(s) | Volunteers (Lazarus Team) |
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| Stable release | 1.6 / February 18, 2016 |
| Development status | Active |
| Written in | Object Pascal |
| Operating system | Cross-platform, including Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS, FreeBSD, Solaris |
| Platform | x86, x86-64, ARM, IA-32, PowerPC |
| Available in | Multi-language |
| Type | RAD tool for Pascal and Object Pascal |
| License | GNU General Public License, GNU Lesser General Public License, and others |
| Website | www.lazarus-ide.org |
Lazarus is a free cross-platform visual integrated development environment (IDE) for rapid application development (RAD) using the Free Pascal compiler, which supports dialects of Object Pascal, to varying degrees. Software developers use Lazarus to create native-code console and graphical user interface (GUI) applications for the desktop, and also for mobile devices, web applications, web services, visual components and function libraries (.so, .dll, etc., for use by other programs). The Free Pascal compiler supports a number of different platforms, such as Mac, Linux and Windows.
Lazarus inherits three features from its use of the Free Pascal compiler: compile speed, execution speed, and cross-compilation. The Free Pascal compiler benefits from the Pascal language structure and the steady advancements of the Pascal compiler design (spanning several decades) to compile large applications quickly, often in a matter of seconds. When compiling reference programs for performance metrics, Lazarus produces programs that exhibit near or similar performance when compared with the same programs written in C.
An application that developers create using Lazarus on one platform can potentially compile and execute on any platform for which a Free Pascal compiler exists. The usual caveats of the limitations of the target platform apply; however, for desktop applications a single source can target Mac, Linux, and Windows, usually with no modification (or very little modification). An example application is the Lazarus IDE which itself was created using the Lazarus IDE from a single code base and is available on all major platforms and also runs on the Raspberry PI.
Contents
Features
Most similar to earlier versions of the Borland Delphi, Lazarus provides a highly visual development environment for the creation of rich user interfaces, application logic, and other supporting code artifacts. Along with the customary project management features, the Lazarus IDE also provides features that includes but are not limited to:
- A What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) visual windows layout designer
- An extensive set of GUI widgets or visual components such as edit boxes, buttons, dialogs, menus, etc.
- An extensive set of non-visual components for common behaviors such as persistence of application settings
- A set of data-connectivity components for MySQL, PostgreSQL, FireBird, Oracle, SQLite, Sybase, and others
- Data-aware widget set that allows the developer to see data in visual components in the designer to assist with development
- Interactive code debugger
- Code completion
- Code templates
- Syntax highlighting
- Context-sensitive help
- Text resource manager for internationalisation (internationalization)
- Automatic code formatting
- The ability to create custom components
Cross-platform development
Lazarus uses Free Pascal as its back-end compiler. Therefore, Lazarus can, theoretically, be used to develop applications for all platforms supported by Free Pascal.
Similar to Free Pascal’s run-time library, Lazarus provides a cross-platform application framework called the Lazarus Component Library (LCL), which provides a single, unified interface for programmers, with different platform-specific implementations. Using LCL, one can create applications in a write once, compile anywhere manner, unless system-dependent features are used explicitly.
Cross-compiling
As Free Pascal supports cross-compiling, Lazarus applications can be cross-compiled from Windows to Linux and FreeBSD, and vice versa. Compiling from Mac OS X to Windows, Linux and FreeBSD is possible. Cross-compiling to Mac OS X could be done for older (PowerPC) versions, but not for newer Intel versions, since Apple no longer releases the assembler and linker sources.[citation needed]
Applications for embedded devices (smartphones, PDAs, routers, game consoles) are cross-compiled from a *nix or Windows.
With Lazarus 1.3 (development version) it is possible to generate Android applications.[1]
Lazarus Component Library
The standard application framework, Lazarus Component Library (LCL) was modeled after the Visual Component Library (VCL) in Delphi 6, but it is available for operating systems other than Windows. This is done by separating the definition of common widget classes and their widgetset-specific implementation. Support for each widget set is done by providing an interface which interacts directly with the widget set.[2]
Database development
Developers can install packages that allow Lazarus to support several databases. Programs can interact with databases through code or by components dropped on a form. The data-aware components represent fields and are connected by the correct setting of properties to a TDataSource, which represents a table, and to the database components, which may be TPSQLDatabase, TSQLiteDataSet, or equivalent.
The following databases are supported out of the box using the built-in database components:
- dBase and FoxPro can be supported without the need for an external server or library through the TDbf component
- InterBase / Firebird. See [1]
- Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase ASE. See [2]
- MySQL. See [3]
- ODBC databases. See [4]
- Oracle. See [5]
- PostgreSQL. See [6]
- SQLite. See [7]
Differences from Delphi
While resembling Delphi in many ways, there are a few limitations regarding the performance and feature set.
- Under Windows the default size of an executable file is larger than the Delphi 6 or Delphi 7 equivalent as Lazarus stores debug information within the executable rather than as separate files. From release 0.9.30 Lazarus supports external debug symbols; program file size can be significantly reduced by using an external symbols file (it can be set in Compiler options), or by using Strip
- Components for Delphi can be installed in Lazarus, but they must be converted, which can be complex (less complex since FP 2.4.x-based 0.9.30)
- Missing important media libraries and widgets:
- Microsoft Office connectivity (popping up Excel with a simple table filled out works in 2.5.x trunk)
- Datasnap (not a publicly documented system, Embarcadero proprietary enterprise functionality)
- Networking is mostly available
- No support to directly call .NET libraries;. It is possible to call Object Pascal code from .NET software.[3]
- COM support was missing until version 2.2.0.
- Missing dynamically loadable packages support.
- Not 100 percent compatible with VCL. As mentioned previously this is by design, although the current LCL widget set should suffice for most applications. But this makes the deep repository of available VCL widgets inaccessible without conversion. The conversion effort mostly involves some editing, although there are a few fundamental differences. When porting, missing units in the libraries and COM support are a considerably bigger problem than incompatibilities between LCL and VCL.
Distribution and licensing
Like Free Pascal, Lazarus is free software. Different portions are distributed under different free software licenses, including GPL, LGPL, MPL, and a modified version of LGPL.[4]
Specifically, the LCL, which is statically built into the produced executables, is licensed under a modified version of the LGPL, granting extra permissions to allow it to be statically built into the produced software, including proprietary ones.
Note that installing a design-time package is equivalent to linking to the IDE. Thus, distributing the Lazarus IDE with a GPL-incompatible design-time package (e.g. the JEDI packages, which are licensed under the Mozilla Public License) pre-installed would cause a license violation. This does not prohibit proprietary packages from being developed with Lazarus, though.
Lazarus is officially distributed via Sourceforge.
History
The first attempt to develop a visual IDE for Free Pascal dates back to 1998, when the Megido project commenced. For various reasons this approach failed. Consecutively, some of Megido's developers decided to start a new project based on a more flexible foundation. The first preliminary LCL version could be released in 2001, and in 2003 the first beta version of Lazarus (0.9.0.3) was hosted at SourceForge. The first final Lazarus version (1.0) was released in 2012. Lazarus 1.2 with significant enhancements was released in 2014.
The name "Lazarus" alludes to the revival of the Megido vision. It is inspired by Lazarus of Bethany, who, according to the Gospel of John, was restored to life four days after his death by Jesus.
Unlike Megido, Lazarus was a big success. It is available for a range of operating systems including various Linux distributions, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris and Windows. More than four million downloads from SourceForge (as of March 2014) mark the increasing popularity of this IDE.
Versions
| Version number | Release date | Platform | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0.5 | January 2001 | Windows | First release of component library |
| 0.1 | January 2001 | Windows | Redesign of component library to support platform-sensitive development for Linux and Windows using GTK+ and other widgetsets. |
| 0.5 | January 30, 2001 | Windows, Linux | Bug fixes and new features supporting cross-platform development and project skeletons. |
| 0.8 | October 9, 2001 | Windows, Linux | Codetools implemented, bug fixes. |
| 0.8.2 | January 17, 2002 | Windows, Linux | Expanded find functions. |
| 0.8.4 | August 19, 2002 | Windows, Linux | Improved graphics and font support, support for Delphi 6 syntax. Binary DFMs are now automatically converted to LFMs. |
| 0.8.5 | October 26, 2002 | Windows, Linux | LCL decoupled from interfaces. |
| 0.9.0.3 | September 4, 2003 | Linux | First release on Sourceforge |
| 0.9.1 | February 27, 2004 | Windows, Linux | Support for packages, numerous added and enhanced properties. |
| 0.9.4 | January 3, 2005 | Windows | Threading support improved, oldest public version hosted at Sourceforge |
| 0.9.6 | February 25, 2005 | Windows | |
| 0.9.8 | July 19, 2005 | Windows | |
| 0.9.10 | October 3, 2005 | Windows, Mac OS X (PPC) | Bug fixes, extensibility of IDE improved, document editor for FPDoc files. Includes Free Pascal 2.0.1 |
| 0.9.12 | February 7, 2006 | Windows | New packages for database support, CGI applications and printing. |
| 0.9.14 | April 2, 2006 | Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux | Bugfixes, more controls in the WinCE and Qt4 interface |
| 0.9.16 | May 28, 2006 | Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux | Bug fixes, online help for IDE windows and for LCL applications, improvements to QT widgetset interface. Includes Free Pascal 2.0.2 |
| 0.9.18 | September 23, 2006 | Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux | Bugfixes, procedure list implemented, new command-line tool "lazbuild" |
| 0.9.20 | November 5, 2006 | Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux | Bufixes, code folding implemented, QT widgetset improved. |
| 0.9.22 | March 26, 2007 | Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux | New components to write Windows services and Linux daemons, support for custom mouse cursors. Includes Free Pascal 2.0.4 |
| 0.9.24 | November 15, 2007 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | First stable release for Win64, WinCE, and Intel-based Mac OS X. Improvements in Qt, Carbon, and Gtk2 widgetset interfaces. Customizable toolbar. Includes Free Pascal 2.2.0 |
| 0.9.26 | October 5, 2008 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Internal graphic system was rewritten. LCL now uses Unicode strings encoded as UTF-8 on all platforms. FPDoc help in tooltips. First version to run natively using the Carbon widgetset on Mac OS X. |
| 0.9.26.2 | March 13, 2009 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes, improved icon support. Includes Free Pascal 2.2.2 |
| 0.9.28 | September 29, 2009 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Improvements of editor and debugger including support for double-byte fonts such as Eastern, Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic, smaller file sizes of generated applications. Includes Free Pascal 2.2.4 |
| 0.9.28.2 | October 25, 2009 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Mainly bug fixes. |
| 0.9.30 | March 22, 2011 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Large number of new features, including docking and multiple source-code windows. Based on Free Pascal 2.4.2. |
| 0.9.30.2RC1 | September 30, 2011 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Includes Free Pascal 2.4.4. Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.2. |
| 0.9.30.2RC2 | October 26, 2011 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.2. |
| 0.9.30.2 | November 5, 2011 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes. |
| 0.9.30.4RC1 | March 3, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes, includes Free Pascal 2.6.0. Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.4. |
| 0.9.30.4RC2 | March 7, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.4. |
| 0.9.30.4RC3 | March 11, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.4. |
| 0.9.30.4 | March 14, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes |
| 1.0RC1 | July 29, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel), Linux | Release candidate for Lazarus 1.0. |
| 1.0RC2 | August 21, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Release candidate for Lazarus 1.0. |
| 1.0 | August 28, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | First final version. This stable release includes Free Pascal 2.6.0. Multiple corrections and improvements of the IDE, including a macro function, expanded code-folding and new debugger functions. |
| 1.0.2 | October 10, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes, minor additions to LCL and widgetsets |
| 1.0.4 | December 2, 2012 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes, minor additions to IDE, LCL and widgetsets as well as LazReport and TAChart |
| 1.0.6 | February 3, 2013 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes, minor additions to IDE, LCL and widgetsets as well as LazReport and TAChart |
| 1.0.8 | March 19, 2013 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fix release. Includes Free Pascal 2.6.2 |
| 1.0.10 | June 12, 2013 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes. |
| 1.0.12 | August 24, 2013 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes. |
| 1.0.14 | November 16, 2013 | Windows, Mac OS X (Intel and PPC), Linux | Bug fixes. |
| 1.1.99 | September 16, 2013 | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux | Alpha version for Lazarus 1.2 |
| 1.2RC1 | November 3, 2013 | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux | Release candidate for Lazarus 1.2 |
| 1.2RC2 | January 13, 2014 | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux | Release candidate for Lazarus 1.2 |
| 1.2 | March 4, 2014 | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux | Multiple new features, including a macro recorder, support for layered graphs and Pascal Script. Based on Free Pascal 2.6.2 |
| 1.2.2 | April 23, 2014 | Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux | Bug fix release. Based on Free Pascal 2.6.4 |
| 1.2.4 | June 16, 2014 | Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux | Bug fix release. |
| 1.2.6 | October 12, 2014 | Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux | Bug fix release. |
| 1.4.0 | April 19, 2015 | Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux | Improvements of editor, resource handling and additional new features. Based on Free Pascal 2.6.4. |
| 1.4.2 | July 14, 2015 | Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux | Bug fix release. |
| 1.4.4 | October 4th, 2015 | Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux | Bug fix release. |
| 1.6 | February 18, 2016 | Windows 32bit/64bit, Mac OS X, Linux | Multiple new features, including docking, project groups and improved editor. Based on Free Pascal 3.0.0.[5] |
Applications produced with Lazarus
- ASuite is a free open source application launcher for Windows. From 2.0 Alpha 2, it's fully written in Lazarus/FPC.
- AksiIDE is a Free Light IDE/Editor for PHP Developer.[6]
- Cartes du Ciel is a free planetarium program for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. The software maps out and labels most of the constellations, planets, and objects you can see with a telescope. It is fully written in Lazarus/FPC and released under GPL.
- Cheat Engine is an open source memory scanner/hex editor/debugger. It is useful for cheating in computer games. Since version 6.0 it is compiled with Lazarus/FPC.
- Greenfish Icon Editor Pro is a freeware icon, cursor and animation editor.
- EPANET, a software package for modelling water distribution systems.
- MyNotex is a free software for Gnu/Linux useful to take and to manage textual notes.
- Peazip is an open source archiver, made with Lazarus/FPC.
- TorChat is moving away from Python, and is being rewritten in Lazarus + Free Pascal.
- Double Commander is a cross platform open source file manager with two panels side by side. It is inspired by Total Commander and features some new ideas.[7]
- Xoctave is a cross platform Graphical User Interface for GNU Octave.[8]
- Star Manager is a system manager that allows adjusting backlight brightness and sound volume of an ARM processor-based WinCE device, to set wallpapers on the desktop, to control and manage system processes and memory load, to control battery charge and see device configuration.[9]
- OmniMix is a privacy and anonymity tool, which, as a portable NNTP/SMTP/POP3 proxy server, provides a gateway to anonymous remailers including a Tor subsystem. To support code review it offers an additional setup program configured to build the Lazarus IDE and the application itself from their sources.[10]
Libraries compatible with Lazarus
- GLScene is a free OpenGL-based library that provides visual components and objects allowing description and rendering of 3D scenes.
- OpenWire is an Open Source library that allows pin type properties to make connections between LCL components similar to LabVIEW or Agilent VEE.
See also
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References
- ↑ Lazarus and Android.pdf
- ↑ See LCL Internals.
- ↑ http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Using_Pascal_Libraries_with_.NET_and_Mono
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lazarus 1.6 on http://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org
- ↑ aksiide.com
- ↑ sourceforge.net
- ↑ xoctave.com
- ↑ clanteam.com
- ↑ OmniMix Website
Additional references
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lazarus (software). |
- Lazarus Homepage
- About Lazarus
- Project Homepage at SourceForge.net
- The Lazarus Documentation Project
- Get Lazarus hosting downloads
- Lazarus learning center
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Pascal programming language family
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- Articles in need of cleanup
- Articles with unsourced statements from November 2015
- Commons category link is locally defined
- Pascal programming language family
- Pascal (programming language)
- Integrated development environments
- Free computer libraries
- Free integrated development environments
- OS X programming tools
- Programming tools for Windows
- Linux integrated development environments
- Cross-platform free software
- 1999 software
- Free Pascal
- Platform-sensitive development
