Delphi Community Edition vs Lazarus for Begginers

[justmex]

Hi, first and foremost, I would like to thank the community of freepascal and lazarus for exist!!! It's been a while since I used Pascal and is refreshing see how big these open source projects have grown.

As the title of the thread says, what IDE would you recommend to begginers for a smooth and mostly trouble free experience?
My rationale is, having read some versions releases logs of lazarus, that last releases have some bugs on the components that could discourage beginners or may get on the way of fast learning the basics, if so, there's a version that the community consider as "rock stable"?
Finally, there's the community edition of delphi which I guess would be the "natural path" for begginers, but I might be wrong and could be that this version of delphi it's so crippled that may not be worth it?

Thank you in advance!

[Handoko]

Hello justmex,
Welcome to the forum.

Lazarus does not provide stable nor LTS releases. Due to limited manpower, sometimes bugs are 'included' the releases. Some years ago, several of the releases had issues with Linux. Good news is Lazarus 3.0, which is current release has no noticeable issue with Linux, I'm using it.

If there is no certain reason, you should use Lazarus version 3.0:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/lazarus/files/

As a Linux user, I don't and I can't use Delphi, so nothing I can say about it.

Have fun!

[Thaddy]

Install both and after some time choose one 
Many forum members have such a setup. And keep both...
You will notice, though, that this forum is very active and usually gives you good advice or pointers to where information about a question is.
And you have the sourcecode of the compiler which is not only an asset but the FreePascal compiler is often better and supports much more platforms.

[Thaddy]

Lazarus does not provide stable nor LTS releases.

Wrong. FreePascal only releases when it can be considered LTS. You should know better. (Explicative Indonesian word in mind  )
But it gives you the choice of trying cutting edge, which is definitely not recommended for beginners although almost all of them do. In the case of Delphi that is still by invitation only and without sources (well, a little).

[wp]

Surprisingly, the Community Edition of Delphi is not crippled at all, I think it corresponds to the Professional Edition, worth of about 1000 $, and even comes with the sources. It is allowed for private projects, even for commercial projects, however, only if your company has total revenues of 5000 $ per year. You may wonder, what's wrong with it...

Well, I think, it's the same trick that drug dealers use to make people addicted. The problem is that you only get a 1-year-license. So far, it has not been any problem for me to extend it. But I think that Embarcadero once will decide: Let's stop this offer, we want people to pay for it. And then you have a problem because you cannot use your projects any more when your license expires.

Therefore, don't do any serious work with the Community Edition. For learning - fine. But even a hobby project is at risk...

For "serious" projects use Lazarus, or *buy* Delphi.

[KodeZwerg]

I run both and loving them, while I actual never tested the CE edition of Delphi since I use it in my job.
One major difference is, Delphi is Windows only but can compile for many while Lazarus can be installed on many different platforms.
So if you not run the Windows OS, then the choice is already made 
(beside installing it into a Windows VM from whatever your OS might be)
I suggest to start with Lazarus by using FpUp(deluxe) installer for the best experience, at least thats how I started with it.

[VisualLab]

Finally, there's the community edition of delphi which I guess would be the "natural path" for begginers, but I might be wrong and could be that this version of delphi it's so crippled that may not be worth it?

For learning programming in Object Pascal (and getting to know the VCL and FMX libraries), Delphi Community Edition is completely sufficient. Likewise, Lazarus is sufficient as it is. There are some differences in handling more advanced things (especially in libraries). That's why I support Thaddy's advice. I have both Delphi (version 12) and Lazarus (version 3.0) installed.

[VisualLab]

Well, I think, it's the same trick that drug dealers use to make people addicted.

In that case, Microsoft^*) is an incomparably bigger "drug dealer" than Embarcadero

^*) Visual Studio CE

[VisualLab]

I run both and loving them, while I actual never tested the CE edition of Delphi since I use it in my job.
One major difference is, Delphi is Windows only but can compile for many while Lazarus can be installed on many different platforms.
So if you not run the Windows OS, then the choice is already made 
(beside installing it into a Windows VM from whatever your OS might be)
I suggest to start with Lazarus by using FpUp(deluxe) installer for the best experience, at least thats how I started with it.

It is possible not only for Windows but also for: MacOS X, iOS, Android and Linux. There are even examples on YouTube. On systems other than Windows, the FireMonkey^*) (FMX) library is used.

^*) How could you come up with such an idiotic name? In python this would be OK (such names are common there).

EDIT - It should be:
How could the Embarcadero come up with such an idiotic name? In Python this would be OK (such names are common there).

[KodeZwerg]

I run both and loving them, while I actual never tested the CE edition of Delphi since I use it in my job.
One major difference is, Delphi is Windows only but can compile for many while Lazarus can be installed on many different platforms.
So if you not run the Windows OS, then the choice is already made 
(beside installing it into a Windows VM from whatever your OS might be)
I suggest to start with Lazarus by using FpUp(deluxe) installer for the best experience, at least thats how I started with it.

It is possible not only for Windows but also for: MacOS X, iOS, Android and Linux. There are even examples on YouTube. On systems other than Windows, the FireMonkey^*) (FMX) library is used.

^*) How could you come up with such an idiotic name? In python this would be OK (such names are common there).

Since you quoted everything from me and somehow repeat what I've said I am clueless about the meaning.

[Thaddy]

FireMonkey*) (FMX)

That is the only real drawback in using Delphi.
It is neither stable nor sufficiently supported.
To quote a song: "A pretty face don't mean a pretty heart". (The late Robert Palmer, the song is "Bad Case of Loving You")

[VisualLab]

I run both and loving them, while I actual never tested the CE edition of Delphi since I use it in my job.
One major difference is, Delphi is Windows only but can compile for many while Lazarus can be installed on many different platforms.
So if you not run the Windows OS, then the choice is already made 
(beside installing it into a Windows VM from whatever your OS might be)
I suggest to start with Lazarus by using FpUp(deluxe) installer for the best experience, at least thats how I started with it.

It is possible not only for Windows but also for: MacOS X, iOS, Android and Linux. There are even examples on YouTube. On systems other than Windows, the FireMonkey^*) (FMX) library is used.

^*) How could you come up with such an idiotic name? In python this would be OK (such names are common there).

Since you quoted everything from me and somehow repeat what I've said I am clueless about the meaning.

My fault, poorly worded answer. It was a rhetorical question directed at Embardacero. I corrected it.

[VisualLab]

FireMonkey*) (FMX)

That is the only real drawback in using Delphi.
It is neither stable nor sufficiently supported,

And if you need to check something urgently in the documentation, their website does not work. Similarly, frequent crashes occur when installing Delphi using the web installer. One day they will end up worse than the wasteful, thoughtless and rapacious Borland management (the one who managed the company just before its collapse).

[Thaddy]

You can rephrase Embarcadero to Idera too.
I got Borland share options - because I worked there - valued at $120, ended up being 1($1) even less. Penny stock.
Short time greed before longevity. Sad story. Very sad story.
But at least Idera is trying its best. (I mean that).
Where are the brilliant scientists have gone?

[Curt Carpenter]

If you're gong to be programming for your own satisfaction and pleasure -- as an adventure without schedule or project budget pressures -- I would say:  adopt an open-source lifestyle.   And it is a lifestyle choice in a lot of ways.

I switched from Delphi/Windows to Lazrus/Linux around 2010, and have had no regrets.  I think Delphi lost interest in casual programmers somewhere around Delphi 5.  Windows lost interest around Win98. 

If I was thinking about trying to make a living writing programs though, I'd probably want all that Embarcadero and Microsoft have to offer.

Adopting Lazarus/FPC  maximizes your options going forward, and will serve you well as an approach to learning.