Well, when it comes to cross-platform desktop apps, Lazarus (Free Pascal) and Delphi (payware) do very well. There is nothing in Nim, Zig, Rust, or Go that I know of that can compare to the Lazarus or Delphi IDEs (for Object Pascal). As a matter of fact, there is an effort among Golang users to copy Lazarus. But, for Lazarus and Delphi, things get a bit shaky when we start talking about mobile or desktop and mobile development.
Delphi incorporates a mobile solution that was bought for the purpose, called FireMonkey, that doesn't completely integrate with their desktop solution (VCL). Each new version of Delphi is making progress with integrating the different solutions more tightly, but we are still talking about payware that is priced above what most individuals would want or feel comfortable paying for.
Lazarus, for various odd reasons (or even suspicious reasons), their developers appear to be dragging their feet with making a mobile solution. They should be able to incorporate technologies such as OpenGL ES with LCL and their custom drawn interface, but don't. A 3rd party developer came up with their own solution, that works for Android only (LAMW), but doesn't integrate with the desktop solution (LCL) nor is a part of Lazarus. So for Lazarus, outside of desktop development, things get a bit confusing. However, if team Lazarus ever got their act together and took mobile development more seriously, they probably would have among the best solutions out there.
I would argue that Lazarus is a lot better than Go + QT on many counts - including the fact that it is completely free and you don't have to get an expensive QT developer license.
Think Visual Basic but cross-platform, with a much better language and component architecture.
You can develop non-trivial apps in hours rather than days.
The IDE is here: www.lazarus-ide.org
Why Lazarus?
* Has a proper Rapid Application Development (RAD) IDE with visual layout, event handlers, component tool bars etc and also built in documentation
* Extremely fast to develop on: The IDE starts in a couple of seconds. Compilation to native binaries in seconds.
* Cross Platform - Windows, Linux, Mac OS and perhaps even Android
* Binaries are really fast
* Excellent set of visual components
* Excellent set of database components including grids, CRUD toolbars etc
I wish Lazarus and free pascal would get some love: Lazarus works on more platforms than Delphi ever did and, ignoring bugs, feels like making apps in Delphi 4.0 did.
I have never used it, but I often see Lazarus mentioned on HN as a multi-platform solution. The downside is that it is Delphi / Pascal, but perhaps the lure of cross-platform native apps would make it worth the investment?
Ah, yes, I've heard good things about Lazarus. The problem with it is that it uses its own language (Delphi, as you say), so it's got its own ecosystem and things. No matter how good the UI toolkit is, it's not worth giving up all the niceties of a language with an extensive ecosystem, for me.
It's a pity, because Lazarus does seem fantastic for desktop application development...
Yeah, Delphi is still trying to find its compass when dealing with cross-platform. Intentions are good, just execution lacks. Problem is currently none of them (either Delphi nor Lazarus/FPC) are a good fit overall. Each solves problems on different platforms differently while having other problems that are non-existing for the other.
I do have fun playing with them though, trying to learn each what quirks lurks around. I mean one example is above I said - Delphi can target ARM if it's Android, but can't target ARM if it's Debian. So I can run on RPI something Delphi cooked if I have Android there, but if I have Raspbian I can't. Same hardware, different OS, such a hard nut to crack :). While if it's Intel and you have Linux, guess what - Delphi owns it.
So for now I am switching between IDE's/Frameworks all depending on availability of technology and most importantly what client(s) want.
I do C#, Go, Python, Node, Ruby, etc., but Free Pascal with Lazarus is my #1 choice for any cross-platform desktop app that needs a decent GUI without using Electron.
It's free, fast (enough), and exceptionally easy. If you need a supported system then even Delphi is back to being (not totally un)reasonably priced once you consider that they only charge when you begin earning from it. Their threshold is very low, but by the time you reach it you've tested your idea and got sales.
As for Pascal standards, I'm not entirely sure why there would need to be a recent one. Standards bodies have their place, but their activity is pretty much never something I ever give a thought to when deciding on software tooling.
While not very modern, Lazarus (http://www.lazarus-ide.org/) is a Delphi-compatible Pascal implementation for cross-platform GUI apps. While I've not coded in it I've used a couple of Lazarus apps, and it seems quite mature and works well.
Yes, the Delphi licensing cost is horrible. However, if you are using Lazarus you don't need to use Delphi at all.
The lack of sufficient developers who are familiar with Lazarus/Freepascal is a problem though. But again, this is a chicken and egg type of issue.
Getting up to speed in Lazarus does not take very long though because the IDE itself guides a person through in the components and you can clearly see the properties and components they have etc.
Compared to the challenge of wrangling many of these cross-platform frameworks to develop a desktop, it is a piece of cake in Lazarus.
Sadly, what keeps Lazarus back is the fact that most people aren't even aware that it exists and a perceived notion that it is not a cool/capable framework.
There is Free Pascal and lazarus, but I must admit that if I need a cross-platform tool today, I would make a webapp - not that it compares at all to Delphi, but it works everywhere.
There is Free Pascal[0] and their Lazarus IDE[1], which are free, open source, cross-platform and largely Delphi-compatible – but they still don't seem to be taking the world by storm.
Yeah, if you want something like Delphi, try Lazarus instead which -for the most part- is basically an open source and cross platform Delphi clone[0], so you're not bound to the whims of a corporation that is often seen as where old proprietary software goes to die.
Borland also dabbled for a while with a Mac version and later with a Linux version. Both were never succesful but I expect they put a lot of resources in there.
Edit: it is funny that Lazarus is cross platform, while Delphi still only runs on Windows (although it can compile to other platforms).
Hmm, i wouldn't be so sure, since one of the slogans of Pascal (and i guess Delphi too) was "write once, compile anywhere" - i still think that FreePascal/Lazarus is a great choice for multi platform code, though personally i haven't exactly used Delphi in such a capacity to also make that claim.
I do think that you make a good point, however, since not everyone cares about cross platform much and in regards to "native" .NET options on Windows, i'd say that everything from WinForms to stuff like WPF is indeed pleasant. That said, many developers out there also can't afford to (or just shouldn't) ignore cross platform development, so options in that regard are also definitely worth talking about!
There's a dedicated group of troopers who have kept the flame alive. It's cross platform. There's an Android port in progress. There's a JavaScript backend. The IDE is like all the good things about Delphi 7, none of the drawbacks.
Maybe, but keep in mind FreePascal/Lazarus has generally been supporting at least three of the platforms natively for several years. Complier, visual design, everything as expected from a delphi-like product. One of my FPC projects includes a desktop client with one window using multiple size controls and everything re-sizes near perfectly (know how to use panel controls). Recompiled on Linux and behavior was almost identical and no compile errors, according to expected behavior of a multi-platform toolchain. Funny enough, the client calls into a Golang rest backend I wrote. Nice, efficient solution that is easy to add additional devs to when needed.
In any discussion about Delphi, you really should also mention Lazarus (https://www.lazarus-ide.org/). It's more mature (i.e. more cross platform) than Delphi, and fully open source. It's based on the Free Pascal Compiler (FPC) (https://www.freepascal.org/) (also open source).
Delphi incorporates a mobile solution that was bought for the purpose, called FireMonkey, that doesn't completely integrate with their desktop solution (VCL). Each new version of Delphi is making progress with integrating the different solutions more tightly, but we are still talking about payware that is priced above what most individuals would want or feel comfortable paying for.
Lazarus, for various odd reasons (or even suspicious reasons), their developers appear to be dragging their feet with making a mobile solution. They should be able to incorporate technologies such as OpenGL ES with LCL and their custom drawn interface, but don't. A 3rd party developer came up with their own solution, that works for Android only (LAMW), but doesn't integrate with the desktop solution (LCL) nor is a part of Lazarus. So for Lazarus, outside of desktop development, things get a bit confusing. However, if team Lazarus ever got their act together and took mobile development more seriously, they probably would have among the best solutions out there.
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