Free Pascal Compiler 3.0.0 Is Out; Adds Support For 16-Bit MS-DOS, 64-Bit iOS (freepascal.org)

Halo1 writes: Twenty-three years ago, development started on the first version of the Turbo Pascal and later also Delphi-compatible Free Pascal Compiler, for OS/2 no less. Two decades and change later, the new Free Pascal Compiler 3.0.0 release still supports OS/2, along with a host of older and newer platforms ranging from MS-DOS on an 8086 to the latest Linux and iOS running on AArch64. On the language front, the new features include support for type helpers, codepage-aware strings and a utility to automatically generate JNI bridges for Pascal code. In the mean time, development on the next versions continues, with support for generic functions, an optional LLVM code generator backend and full support for ISO and Extended Pascal progressing well.

Comments

Short FPC history and goals overview

[Halo1]

I thought I added the link to my original summary, but it seems to have gotten lost when I submitted it. In any case, Sourceforge's Project of the Month April 2014 interview with the founder of the Free Pascal Compiler, Florian Klaempfl, contains a good overview of the project's history, goals and development methodology.

Re:Short FPC history and goals overview

[Halo1]

23 years ago? That makes it 1992? I was using Turbo Pascal in 1989!

Yes, Florian started the project when it became clear Borland was not going to create a 32 bit version of TP/BP.

Re:WHY?

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

Because there's a buttload of legacy embedded apps running it? I know of at least 20 I've had my hands near, including one running on the International Space Station.

Re:Free Pascal is awesome.

[Halo1]

FPC comes with a (mostly) TP-compatible graph unit for Windows (32 and 64 bit). It doesn't use BGI drivers, because it doesn't need to. Your mouse code won't work though, since you can't access the mouse driver under Windows using DOS interrupts. We do have our own cross-platform mouse unit you may want to use instead.