A language would only die if its programmers let it die
I personally work in a C/Java minded company, and as far as possible I write tools in Pascal. My team leader asked me to port it to C++/C#/VB. I try to convince him that any attempt to port this tool to another development platform would only downgrade its quality (no cross platform, VM dependant, slow execution, memory hog). Until now, my tools stay in Pascal.
So I see that it's not very popular and want to ask how you see the future of FPC+Lazarus? Which role should it play? Language for serious business projects? Language for researchers and students? Or just a language to support old Delphi projects? Anything else?
For me, it should stay as it is now: a general development environment and programming language for any programming needs that require optimized native execution and memory usage.
- Continuous integration systems (Jenkins, Hudson)
What is this?
- SVN/CVS integration (Team SVN provider)
lazsvnpkg?
- dependency management (Maven)
Object Pascal has no need for this, the compiler is smart enough to compile everything.
- Javadoc and help system
fpdoc? pasdoc? chmhelp?
- a lot of libraries, e.g. for Web (e.g., SOAP, for Lazarus I know about wsdl toolkit 0.5, but it never worked for me)
Open your fpc/source/packages directory
- Web application servers (e.g., Tomcat)
Easy to create, even it's just one of example in lnet. Besides, Object Pascal code doesn't need special web server to work, it doesn't even need one! You can have the web server integrated in the web application!
so of course Java+Eclipse is a very popular solution and it's very complicated for FPC+Lazarus to compete with them
From my research, it's not those things. But the way Oracle promotes their language and tools.
Many corporations invest money in Java, Lazarus does not have such a financial sources
That's why I like Lazarus/FPC, we're driven by no company but the community
Then I try and remember that Pascal from the beginning was a language for learning/researching. So it should be nice for students.
No, it's nice for everyone who wants to know it. Trust me, many programmers just really don't know this language, they're only fed by black campaign from their professors, bosses, friends, etc. who in turn don't know the reality as well.
There is only Java and C++ available now:(
Well... if you know who's behind this? Again, Oracle and probably MS / AT&T. Embarcadero seems has no interest in joining.
Thus, students also has no more motivation to learn Pascal - business needs Java/C, contests do not accept Pascal.
Many online judges do, IOI accepts Pascal/C/C++ only.
How do You see the future of the project and target audience?
Bright enough, looking at the increasing number of people joining the forum, number of downloads at many download sites, etc. I've started googling things written in Lazarus/FPC since 2005, and the result grows every year.
Who will use Lazarus/ are using it now?
Me for sure, some european companies (maybe more), brazilian government (CMIIW) and schools all over the world.
For which developers it fits better than other languages?
Real developers, I mean those who learn programming languages and tools by heart. Those who can differentiate between compiler, debugger, editor and IDE. Those who can compare language with language, implementation with implementation, instead of intermixing them. Those who analyze programming languages up to their semantics instead of just syntax.
Should Lazarus choose a target "audience" (business developers, students, researchers, web, databases, etc.) and plan roadmap to fit their needs? Or just continue as is?
As I said before, just continue as is. Lazarus should have no restriction of users. I've made both open source and proprietary projects with it.