Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages

Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by sysrpl on Sunday October 18, 2026 @02:48PM (#50144067)

I am pleased to announce the first release of full dynamic package support for the Free Pascal Compiler and the Lazarus IDE. This feature has been a long time coming for the FPC ecosystem and has taken more than 20 years to realize through the work of many FOSS individuals.

Dynamic packages allow programmers to create and install components, controls, and Lazarus extensions in seconds without rebuilding the entire Lazarus IDE. They can also be used in by Free Pascal programmers to develop and deploy plugins that expose native Pascal classes and types through dynamic package libraries. To support this functionality, I have made numerous improvements to the compiler, its runtime, and the Lazarus IDE. I have also created additional IDE extensions to improve the experience of working with Lazarus packages. Read more at the link above.

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Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by phba on Sunday October 18, 2026 @04:02PM (#50144877)

Awesome work. It's great to have a FOSS alternative while (Embarcadero) Delphi gets worse with every new release.

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Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by andsoitis on Sunday October 18, 2026 @09:05PM (#50147171)

Lazarus is great.

I also think Delphi is awesome. Don't feel the same "get worse with every release" vibe that you do. But, if you do, you could also check out Oxygene: https://www.remobjects.com/elements/oxygene/

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Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by pjmlp on Sunday October 18, 2026 @03:48PM (#50144709)

Congratulations on the achievement, and to everyone that made it happen.

Similar to Delphi packages I assume.

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Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by andsoitis on Sunday October 18, 2026 @03:05PM (#50144205)

Congratulations!

Pascal/Lazarus/Delphi strike such a nice balance of responsiveness in the development lifecycle.

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Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by sysrpl on Sunday October 18, 2026 @03:27PM (#50144429)

Thank you. This has been a long time coming, perhaps 20 years in the making. I realize people are moving on to newer languages and frameworks, but there is just something special about older versions of Delphi and now Lazarus that makes it so much easier to write desktop software than most other frameworks. You can just drop components on a form designer, press run, and in a second's time you have a program. Of course there is more to it than that, but with dynamic package support, users can make or use components even faster as they no longer need to rebuild the IDE to install or uninstall native code.

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Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by switchbak on Sunday October 18, 2026 @08:03PM (#50146801)

I was doing exactly that some 27 years ago for my first internship. It has been a disappointment ever since seeing how little many other environments have prioritized tight feedback loops. Outside of dynamic stuff, mainly.

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Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by throwaway27448 on Monday October 19, 2026 @12:10AM (#50148292)

Congratulations!

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Re:Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages by fithisux on Monday October 19, 2026 @12:05PM (#50154085)

The page lists a FPC 3.2.3 while the official is 3.2.2 with 3.2.4 in RC2. I do not understand it.

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