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Lazarus (software)

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For other uses, see Lazarus (disambiguation).
Lazarus
Developer(s)Lazarus and Free Pascal Team (volunteers)
Stable release
3.6.0 / September 30, 2024; 40 days ago (2024-09-30)
Repository
Written inObject Pascal
Operating systemcross-platform: Windows, macOS, Linux[1]
PlatformIA-32, x86-64, ARM (Raspberry Pi)[1]
Available in14 languages
List of languages
Chinese (simplified), Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian
TypeIntegrated development environment
LicenseGNU General Public License and modified GNU Lesser General Public License (with static linking exception)
Websitewww.lazarus-ide.org

Lazarus is a cross-platform, integrated development environment (IDE) for rapid application development (RAD) using the Free Pascal compiler. Its goal is to provide an easy-to-use development environment for developing with the Object Pascal language, which is as close as possible to Delphi. It is free and open-source software with different parts released under different software licenses.

Lazarus is often used to create native-code console and graphical user interface (GUI) applications for desktop computers, mobile devices, web applications, web services, visual components, and function libraries for several different operating system platforms, including macOS, Linux, and Windows.[1]

A project created by using Lazarus on one platform can be compiled on any other one which Free Pascal compiler supports. For desktop applications, one source code can target macOS, Linux, and Windows, with little or no modification. For example, the Lazarus IDE is created from one code base and available on all major platforms including Raspberry Pi.

Features

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Lazarus provides a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) development environment for creating rich user interfaces, application logic, and other supporting code artifacts, similar to Delphi. Along with project management features, the Lazarus IDE also provides:

  • A visual windows layout designer
  • GUI widgets or visual components such as edit boxes, buttons, dialogs, menus, etc.
  • Non-visual components for common behaviors such as persistence of application settings
  • 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 debugger
  • Code completion
  • Code templates
  • Syntax highlighting
  • Context-sensitive help
  • Text resource manager for internationalization
  • Automatic code formatting
  • Extensibility via custom components

Cross-platform development

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Architecture of the Lazarus Component Library
Interaction of class libraries and widgetsets in Lazarus and Free Pascal

Lazarus uses Free Pascal as its back-end compiler. As Free Pascal supports cross-compiling, Lazarus applications can be cross-compiled from Windows, Linux, or macOS to any of the supported Free Pascal compilation targets. Applications for embedded devices (smartphones, PDAs, routers, game consoles) can be cross-compiled from any desktop platform.

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, it is possible to create applications in a write once, compile anywhere manner, unless system-dependent features are used explicitly. LCL was originally modeled after the Visual Component Library (VCL) in Delphi 6, but is not restricted to Windows. This is done by separating the definition of common widget classes and their widgetset-specific implementation. Each widget set is supported by providing an interface which interacts directly with the set.[2]

Database development

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Developers can install packages that allow Lazarus to support several database management systems (DBMSes). Programs can interact with a DBMS through code or by components dropped on a form.

The following DBMSes are supported out of the box:

Differences from Delphi

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Lazarus resembles Delphi in many ways. It supports Component Object Model (COM) since version 2.2.0, and offers most of Delphi's networking functions. However, there are limits to the performance and feature set.

Lazarus does not support the following, which Delphi does:

  • Datasnap (uses Embarcadero proprietary enterprise functions, not a publicly documented system)
  • Dynamically loadable packages
  • .NET libraries (.NET code, however, can invoke Object Pascal code or anything other machine-native library via Platform Invocation Services.[4])
  • Extensive Microsoft Office connectivity (Lazarus can only open Microsoft Excel with a simple table filled out.)[citation needed]

LCL is not fully compatible with VCL. This makes the extensive 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 are a considerably bigger problem than incompatibilities between LCL and VCL. Components for Delphi can be converted to work in Lazarus. This can be complex, though less so than for Lazarus versions older than 0.9.30, based on FP 2.4.x.

On Windows, the default size of an executable file is larger than the Delphi 6 or 7 equivalent, as Lazarus stores debug information within the executable, rather than as separate files. Starting with version 0.9.30, Lazarus supports external debug symbols via compiler options. Thus, program file sizes can be significantly reduced. Alternatively, debug info can be stripped from EXEs (e.g. using a port of the UNIX strip command).

Distribution and licensing

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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.[5] 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.

Installing a design time package is equivalent to linking to the IDE, so that distributing the Lazarus IDE with a GPL-incompatible design-time package such as the JEDI packages licensed under the Mozilla Public License, pre-installed would cause a license violation. This does not prohibit proprietary packages from being developed with Lazarus.

History

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The first attempt to develop an IDE for Free Pascal dates back to 1998, under the "Megido" project. After the project failed, some of its developers started a new project based on a more flexible foundation. The name "Lazarus" alludes to the revival of the Megido concept. It is inspired by Lazarus of Bethany, who, according to the Gospel of John, was restored to life by Jesus four days after his death.

The first preliminary LCL version was ready for release in 2001. In 2003, the first beta version of Lazarus (0.9.0.3) was hosted at SourceForge. Lazarus version 1.0 was released in 2012. A significantly enhanced Lazarus 1.2 with was released in 2014. More than four million downloads had been made from SourceForge as of March 2014.

Versions

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Legend:
Old version, not maintained
Old version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release
Version number Release date Platform Comments
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.0.5 January 2001 Windows First release of component library
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.1 January 2001 Windows Redesign of component library to support platform-sensitive development for Linux and Windows using GTK+ and other widgetsets
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.5 January 30, 2001 Windows, Linux Bug fixes and new features supporting cross-platform development and project skeletons
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8 October 9, 2001 Windows, Linux Codetools implemented, bug fixes
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.2 January 17, 2002 Windows, Linux Expanded find functions
Old version, no longer maintained: 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.5 October 26, 2002 Windows, Linux LCL decoupled from interfaces
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.0.3 September 4, 2003 Linux First release on SourceForge
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.1 February 27, 2004 Windows, Linux Support for packages, numerous added and enhanced properties
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.4 January 3, 2005 Windows Threading support improved, oldest public version hosted at SourceForge
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.6 February 25, 2005 Windows
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.8 July 19, 2005 Windows
Old version, no longer maintained: 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.12 February 7, 2006 Windows New packages for database support, CGI applications and printing
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.14 April 2, 2006 Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux Bugfixes, more controls in WinCE and Qt4 interface
Old version, no longer maintained: 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.18 September 23, 2006 Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux Bugfixes, procedure list implemented, new command-line tool "lazbuild"
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.20 November 5, 2006 Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux Bufixes, code folding implemented, Qt widgetset improved
Old version, no longer maintained: 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.24 November 15, 2007 Windows, Mac OS X, 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.26 October 5, 2008 Windows, Mac OS X, 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.26.2 March 13, 2009 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes, improved icon support; includes Free Pascal 2.2.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.28 September 29, 2009 Windows, Mac OS X, 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.28.2 October 25, 2009 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Mainly bug fixes
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.30 March 22, 2011 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Large number of new features, including docking and multiple source-code windows. Based on Free Pascal 2.4.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.30.2RC1 September 30, 2011 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Includes Free Pascal 2.4.4. Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.30.2RC2 October 26, 2011 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.30.2 November 5, 2011 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.30.4RC1 March 3, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes, includes Free Pascal 2.6.0. Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.4
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.30.4RC2 March 7, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.4
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.30.4RC3 March 11, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.4
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.30.4 March 14, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0RC1 July 29, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X (Intel), Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 1.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0RC2 August 21, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 1.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0 August 28, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0.2 October 10, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes, minor additions to LCL and widgetsets
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0.4 December 2, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes, minor additions to IDE, LCL and widgetsets as well as LazReport and TAChart
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0.6 February 3, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes, minor additions to IDE, LCL and widgetsets as well as LazReport and TAChart
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0.8 March 19, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fix release; includes Free Pascal 2.6.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0.10 June 12, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0.12 August 24, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0.14 November 16, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1.99 September 16, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Alpha version for Lazarus 1.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.2RC1 November 3, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 1.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.2RC2 January 13, 2014 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 1.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.2.2 April 23, 2014 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release. Based on Free Pascal 2.6.4
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.2.4 June 16, 2014 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.2.6 October 12, 2014 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 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
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.4.2 July 14, 2015 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.4.4 October 4, 2015 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.6 February 18, 2016 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Multiple new features, including docking, project groups and improved editor. Based on Free Pascal 3.0.0.[6]
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.6.2 November 13, 2016 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.6.4 February 26, 2017 Windows, macOS, Linux Bug fix release. Based on Free Pascal 3.0.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.8.0 December 6, 2017 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Major release with many new features including an online package manager. Based on Free Pascal 3.0.4
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.8.2 February 28, 2018. Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.8.4 May 22, 2018 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release.[7]
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.0 January 5, 2019 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Multiple new features including Cocoa support and the introduction of a Pascal to JavaScript transpiler
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.2 April 16, 2019 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.4 August 6, 2019 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.6 November 1, 2019 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.8 April 16, 2020 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release, improved Cocoa widgetset
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.10 July 11, 2020 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release, minor additions, first version based on Free Pascal 3.2.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.12 February 21, 2021 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Based on Free Pascal 3.2.0. List of fixes available.[8]
Old version, yet still maintained: 2.2.0 January 5, 2022 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Based on Free Pascal 3.2.2. Multiple improvements, among others in the IDE, the LCL and widgetsets.[9]
Old version, yet still maintained: 2.2.2 May 19, 2022 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, yet still maintained: 2.2.4 September 28, 2022 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, yet still maintained: 2.2.6 March 6, 2023 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release
Old version, yet still maintained: 3.0 December 21, 2023 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Multiple improvements, among others in the IDE, the LCL, widgetsets and the debugger.[10]
Old version, yet still maintained: 3.2 February 28, 2024 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fixes and minor improvements.[11]
Old version, yet still maintained: 3.4 May 29, 2024 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fixes and minor improvements.[11]
Current stable version: 3.6 September 30, 2024 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fixes and minor improvements.[11]

Examples of applications produced with Lazarus

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  • ASuite is a free open-source application launcher for Windows. From 2.1 Alpha 1, it's fully written in Lazarus/FPC.
  • Beyond Compare is a data comparison utility for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The macOS and Linux versions are compiled using Lazarus/FPC.
  • Cartes du Ciel is a free planetarium program for Linux, macOS 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.
  • C-evo is an open source turn-based strategy game that has been ported from Delphi to Lazarus.[12]
  • 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.
  • EPANET, a software package for modelling water-distribution systems.
  • HNSKY, Hallo Northern Sky is a free planetarium program for Windows and Linux. Since version 3.4.0 written and compiled with Lazarus/FPC.
  • MyNotex is a free software for Linux useful to take and 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.
  • Total Commander 64-bit version.[13]
  • Double Commander is a cross-platform open-source file manager with two panels side by side. It is inspired by Total Commander, plus some new ideas.[14]
  • SimThyr is a continuous simulation program for thyroid homeostasis.

Examples of Delphi libraries compatible with Lazarus

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Downloads". lazarus-ide.org. Lazarus and Free Pascal Team. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  2. ^ "LCL Internals". lazarus.freepascal.org. Lazarus and Free Pascal Team. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "SQLdb Package". lazarus.freepascal.org. Lazarus and Free Pascal Team. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Using Pascal Libraries with .NET and Mono". lazarus.freepascal.org. Lazarus and Free Pascal Team. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  5. ^ ""COPYING.txt" file from the online source code repository".
  6. ^ Lazarus 1.6 on http://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org
  7. ^ Lazarus 1.8.4 on http://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org
  8. ^ "Lazarus 2.0 fixes branch". Lazarus Wiki. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Lazarus 2.2.0 release notes". Lazarus Wiki. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Lazarus 3.0 release notes". Lazarus Wiki. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "Lazarus 3.0 release notes". Lazarus Wiki. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  12. ^ c-evo Lazarus port website
  13. ^ "In which language is TC written??". Ghisler.ch. 2010-08-09. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  14. ^ sourceforge.net.

Further reading

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  • van Canneyt, Michaël; Klämpfl, Florian (2012). Free Pascal (2nd ed.). Computer & Literatur Verlag GmbH. ISBN 978-3936546729. OL 25421359M. 393654672X.
  • van Canneyt, Michaël; Gärtner, Mattias; Heinig, Swen; de Carvalho, Felipe Monteiro; Ouedraogo, Inoussa; Braun, Jörg (2011). Lazarus. Böblingen, Germany: Computer & Literatur Verlag GmbH. OL 25426539M.
  • van Canneyt, Michaël; Gärtner, Mattias; Heinig, Swen; de Carvalho, Felipe Monteiro; Ouedraogo, Inoussa (2011). Lazarus: the complete guide. Blaise Pascal Magazine. OL 25427992M.
  • Koch, Wilfried (2020). Professional Programming from the Beginning with Free Pascal and the Free Development Environment Lazarus (Part 1). Oberkochen, Germany: Oberkochener Medienverlag. p. 442. ISBN 9783945899311.
  • Koch, Wilfried (2022). Professional Programming from the Beginning with Free Pascal and the Free Development Environment Lazarus (Part 2). Oberkochen, Germany: Oberkochener Medienverlag. p. 438. ISBN 9783945899267.
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