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.
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:
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.[3]
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.
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.
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).
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.[6] 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.
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.
Version number Release date Platform Comments Old version, not maintained: 0.0.5 January 2001 Windows First release of component library Old version, not 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, not maintained: 0.5 January 30, 2001 Windows, Linux Bug fixes and new features supporting cross-platform development and project skeletons Old version, not maintained: 0.8 October 9, 2001 Windows, Linux Codetools implemented, bug fixes Old version, not maintained: 0.8.2 January 17, 2002 Windows, Linux Expanded find functions Old version, not 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, not maintained: 0.8.5 October 26, 2002 Windows, Linux LCL decoupled from interfaces Old version, not maintained: 0.9.0.3 September 4, 2003 Linux First release on SourceForge Old version, not maintained: 0.9.1 February 27, 2004 Windows, Linux Support for packages, numerous added and enhanced properties Old version, not maintained: 0.9.4 January 3, 2005 Windows Threading support improved, oldest public version hosted at SourceForge Old version, not maintained: 0.9.6 February 25, 2005 Windows Old version, not maintained: 0.9.8 July 19, 2005 Windows Old version, not 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, not maintained: 0.9.12 February 7, 2006 Windows New packages for database support, CGI applications and printing Old version, not maintained: 0.9.14 April 2, 2006 Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux Bugfixes, more controls in WinCE and Qt4 interface Old version, not 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, not maintained: 0.9.18 September 23, 2006 Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux Bugfixes, procedure list implemented, new command-line tool "lazbuild" Old version, not maintained: 0.9.20 November 5, 2006 Windows, Mac OS X (PPC), Linux Bufixes, code folding implemented, Qt widgetset improved Old version, not 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, not 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, not 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, not 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, not 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, not maintained: 0.9.28.2 October 25, 2009 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Mainly bug fixes Old version, not 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, not 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, not maintained: 0.9.30.2RC2 October 26, 2011 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.2 Old version, not maintained: 0.9.30.2 November 5, 2011 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes Old version, not 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, not maintained: 0.9.30.4RC2 March 7, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.4 Old version, not maintained: 0.9.30.4RC3 March 11, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 0.9.30.4 Old version, not maintained: 0.9.30.4 March 14, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes Old version, not maintained: 1.0RC1 July 29, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X (Intel), Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 1.0 Old version, not maintained: 1.0RC2 August 21, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 1.0 Old version, not 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, not maintained: 1.0.2 October 10, 2012 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes, minor additions to LCL and widgetsets Old version, not 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, not 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, not maintained: 1.0.8 March 19, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fix release; includes Free Pascal 2.6.2 Old version, not maintained: 1.0.10 June 12, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes Old version, not maintained: 1.0.12 August 24, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes Old version, not maintained: 1.0.14 November 16, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fixes Old version, not maintained: 1.1.99 September 16, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Alpha version for Lazarus 1.2 Old version, not maintained: 1.2RC1 November 3, 2013 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 1.2 Old version, not maintained: 1.2RC2 January 13, 2014 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Release candidate for Lazarus 1.2 Old version, not 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, not 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, not maintained: 1.2.4 June 16, 2014 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 1.2.6 October 12, 2014 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not 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, not maintained: 1.4.2 July 14, 2015 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 1.4.4 October 4, 2015 Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, Solaris, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not 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.[7] Old version, not maintained: 1.6.2 November 13, 2016 Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 1.6.4 February 26, 2017 Windows, macOS, Linux Bug fix release. Based on Free Pascal 3.0.2 Old version, not 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, not maintained: 1.8.2 February 28, 2018. Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 1.8.4 May 22, 2018 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release.[8] Old version, not 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, not maintained: 2.0.2 April 16, 2019 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 2.0.4 August 6, 2019 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 2.0.6 November 1, 2019 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 2.0.8 April 16, 2020 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release, improved Cocoa widgetset Old version, not 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, not maintained: 2.0.12 February 21, 2021 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Based on Free Pascal 3.2.0. List of fixes available.[9] Old version, not 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.[10] Old version, not maintained: 2.2.2 May 19, 2022 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 2.2.4 September 28, 2022 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release Old version, not maintained: 2.2.6 March 6, 2023 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fix release Old version, still maintained: 3.0 December 21, 2023 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Multiple improvements, among others in the IDE, the LCL, widgetsets and the debugger.[11] Old version, still maintained: 3.2 February 28, 2024 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fixes and minor improvements.[12] Old version, still maintained: 3.4 May 29, 2024 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fixes and minor improvements.[12] Old version, still maintained: 3.6 September 30, 2024 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fixes and minor improvements.[12] Old version, still maintained: 3.8 January 22, 2025 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux Bug fixes and minor improvements.[12] Latest version: 4.0 May 5, 2025 Windows, macOS, BSD, Linux New event types, extended support for Cocoa, optional docking support, more debugger options and extended components.[13]RetroSearch is an open source project built by @garambo | Open a GitHub Issue
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