Although oriented to Pascal code, C developers can benefit from it too. Its true that it cannot compile C code, but you can still call it from Free Pascal. The h2pas utility makes it even easier, as it allows for the conversion oh .h files to Pascal units.
Simplicity is what defines Free Pascal. The user interface is console-based, a common feature of most old-aged compilers. Its not necessarily a downside, especially for advanced programmers, but it may pose some visual discomfort for beginners.
One of the most cherished features of Free Pascal is its compiling speed (correlated to similar compilers), although not comparable to Delphis, for instance. Due to its code optimization capabilities, that include a sophisticated registry allocator, stack frame eliminations and a dataflow analyzer, it behaves and acts faster than other IDEs.
Free Pascal is part of these download collections:File Compilers
Language features consist of procedure and operator overloading, inlining and support for dynamic array, ANSI / wide strings, RTTI (Run-Time Type Information) and COM / CORBA / RAW interfaces.
Free Pascalis an advanced and reliable Pascal compiler that targets various process architectures, including Intel x86, SPARC, AMD64/x86-64, PowerPC and PowerPC64. Free Pascal is known to be compatible, to some extent, with the dialects of Turbo Pascal and Delphi.
Reason for change: Wrong functionality and Delphi compatibility.
Old behaviour: faSymlink had the numerical value $40. This was wrong on windows, and not compatible with Delphi.
A Pascal compiler and IDE that supports function and operator overloading, and other such features, providing powerful tools without requiring Make files
In conclusion, Free Pascal is a great way to build applications. Its a strong and feature-rich IDE addressed mainly to advanced programmers, but the high quality documentation builds an easy road for beginners, too.
Free Pascals compiler engine contributed to some well-know and widely popular applications on the market. A few examples areLazarus(an affiliated package of Free Pascal for developing graphical applications),PeaZipDouble CommanderWinFFVirtual Magnifying Glass, not to mention a wide array of popular games. Moreover, Free Pascal itself was compiled by its own engine.
New behaviour: faSymlink has the numerical value $400. Correct on windows.