Why isn't Lazarus / Free Pascal more popular?

[440bx]

@440bx it’s not a good trend to replace good programmers with cheaper cpu cycles. Sounds like a good way to waste energy and destroy computers.

A good programmer's time shouldn't be wasted optimizing code.  That's the compiler's job, not the programmer's.

People should not do what machines can do better.  They should do what machines cannot do or cannot do well.

Just for the record, if CPU cycles can replace a programmer, that programmer isn't very good (I'm being very kind.)

[440bx]

440bx so the future of software is electron apps that max out the cpu.

As hardware gets better, programming gets worse.

I wonder how you reach such invalid conclusions.

The fact that a program may use the CPU intensively doesn't mean that the CPU will be maxed out.  There are ways to make the CPU sweat, yet leave room for other processes to get CPU cycles.

Just because you drive on the highway doesn't mean every one on the road has to be behind you.  IOW, there is no reason for you to occupy all the lanes (you could if you wanted to by swerving around like a drunk but... that isn't what highways are for.)  Would you conclude that no matter how long the trip is, everyone should walk to the destination to keep highway lanes free ?  is that how it should work ?

We create machines to make them work for us, not for us to work for them.

[440bx]

I have no sympathy at all for bad programmers who write bad code.

We don't have much in common but, we do have that in common.

[JD]

440bx I’ve had a poorly written computer program literally destroy my computer before. It was the login screen for ultima online which unbeknownst to me was maxing out the cpu. I have no sympathy at all for bad programmers who write bad code.

Thank goodness we now have VMs and containers to limit the damage such code can cause. 

[JD]

JD it never occurred to me that a popular application could destroy a computer like that. I assumed the os would have some sort of safeguards or something. Now I’m ultra vigilant and will not tolerate anything that makes the fan run.

I personally install most of my applications in containers, like Docker/Podman. Most of the companies I work with do NOT allow native installation of applications in their IT systems. VMs (and occasionally Containers) are used to isolate applications and limit access to the larger IT neighbourhood. They also demand extensive logging and auditing from all applications. Damage limitation is the first priority. Any rogue VM/Container is quickly shut down without affecting anything else.

[440bx]

Who knows if the virtual machines that act as sandboxes are truly trustworthy... or if they are sending your data off to somewhere. Unless you compile them yourself.

If you're concerned about that, you can install a packet sniffer on the host O/S, that way you can see everything that's going on.

[JD]

All I wanted to do was play the game and a computer professional I know had set it up so I didn’t give it a second thought.
I don’t really trust anything related to computers anymore. Who knows if the virtual machines that act as sandboxes are truly trustworthy... or if they are sending your data off to somewhere. Unless you compile them yourself.

If you are using Windows 11, it has a native Windows Sandbox. I use it to install programs I don't trust for testing. On Windows 10, I use the third party Sandboxie-Plus https://sandboxie-plus.com/ for the same purpose. As 440bx said, you should always install a packet sniffer such as WireShark (one of many) if you want to be sure the program is not sending your data somewhere.

[Fibonacci]

If you are using Windows 11, it has a native Windows Sandbox. I use it to install programs I don't trust for testing. On Windows 10, I use the third party (...)

Windows 10 has it too, just install thru optional features

[JD]

Windows 10 has it too, just install thru optional features

Thanks, I had forgotten about that. Sandboxie-Plus was a tool I used since the Windows 7 days and I just logically installed it on Windows 10.   

[VisualLab]

And young people are mostly impatient and lazy (not all, but most are).

And old people have been calling the younger generations impatient and lazy for thousands of years, yet humanity is still around   

You are right... because the young gradually get older as time goes by. Most of them gain (more or less) experience and life teaches them that laziness does not pay off. So with time the young impatient and lazy become old, patient and hardworking. And that is why humanity still exists

[VisualLab]

A good compiler should generate _better_ code than an expert programmer.

The reason is simple: a compiler should be the sum of experts in code generation and CPU architecture.  As a piece of software running on modern hardware, a compiler can be executing anywhere from 3 to 5 billion instructions per second (never known anyone who could do that), it should easily outdo an expert.  Plus, today's processors have gotten so complex that it is not within the reach of most humans to produce optimal code for a processor.

This concept that the compiler should be more capable than even an expert programmer is nothing new.  When IBM produced the first Fortran compiler, one of the goals was for the compiler to generate faster code than an expert programmer could.

The one thing the programmer is responsible for is: selecting what is hopefully the best algorithm to solve the problem.  Generating the best possible code is what the compiler, not the programmer, is for.

True. Process optimisation (of any kind) is used in many technical fields (not just computer science). Compilers are no exception. That's exactly how it should be.

[VisualLab]

440bx so the future of software is electron apps that max out the cpu.

As hardware gets better, programming gets worse.

Do you mean "applications" created using "modern" technologies such as Python, JavaScript (node.js, Electron) and the like? Perhaps this will end at some point if governments and users will strongly push for reducing the energy consumption of electronic devices containing CPUs (from microcontrollers through smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops to industrial controllers). Including energy consumption for their production and disposal. Of course, the boards of companies (corporations) are strongly opposed to this (because their profits will decrease). For now, this problem is ignored by governments and most ordinary users.

[VisualLab]

440bx I’ve had a poorly written computer program literally destroy my computer before. It was the login screen for ultima online which unbeknownst to me was maxing out the cpu. I have no sympathy at all for bad programmers who write bad code.

Thank goodness we now have VMs and containers to limit the damage such code can cause. 

Yes, but this is an expensive and less than optimal workaround, not a radical solution. Virtual machines are OK if they are used for software testing. However, using it every day is certainly not optimal. Especially all these newfangled "solutions" like containerization, which are primitive workarounds for the problems of an old and poorly designed operating system. Containers and virtual machines are unfortunately only prostheses, not the optimal final solution.

[marcov]

Do you mean "applications" created using "modern" technologies such as Python, JavaScript (node.js, Electron) and the like? Perhaps this will end at some point if governments and users will strongly push for reducing the energy consumption of electronic devices containing CPUs (from microcontrollers through smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops to industrial controllers). Including energy consumption for their production and disposal. Of course, the boards of companies (corporations) are strongly opposed to this (because their profits will decrease). For now, this problem is ignored by governments and most ordinary users.

I think it will remain ignored.  Except for the largest scale operators (like facebook,google and the like).

But the reckoning of any technology is after a few years when apps need to be maintained and updated, while the target is no longer the focus of hype.  And the plethora of web application platforms and their versioning will be a problem.

[440bx]

<snip> most programmers these days probably are less talented than the ones who used punch cards.

Did you ever use punch cards ?  (I did... IBM 360... Fortran IV... thank god for the "dup" key )