Why there is no build-in cross compilation support for windows version?

[Artyom]

Good day. I have downloaded the latest version for windows.
According to slogan" write once compile anywhere" I wished to compile my project for Android. But I did not find any ready to use project settings to build Android application.
Is it too hard for developers to add build-in support for cross compilation to other platforms?
Why this slogan does not not work for the latest windows version?

[TRon]

Hi Artyom and welcome to the forums,

Is it too hard for developers to add build-in support for cross compilation to other platforms?

That support is in fact in place. You do not see it for another reason.

Why this slogan does not not work for the latest windows version?

It does not work that way on/for any platform. If Lazarus (actually FPC) should come with all cross-compilers and necessary binutils and dependencies then people will complain about the size of the download as it will be several TB's (yes terabytes, not gigabytes).

When these are in place then lazarus/fpc is able to invoke a cross-compiler and be able to produce a meaningful executable.

Android is a special case in that it requires the right tools, and which are only distributed by mr googly. Supporting all version of Android would already occupy several TB's of HD space. That is why projects such as LAMW exist that are able to aid for setting up  support for android.

[maurog]

@Artyom

try with fpcupdeluxe

[Artyom]

It does not work that way on/for any platform. If Lazarus (actually FPC) should come with all cross-compilers and necessary binutils and dependencies then people will complain about the size of the download as it will be several TB's (yes terabytes, not gigabytes).

Delphi IDE has build-in support for Android cross-compilation. And there are no complains about the size of the download.

[Artyom]

That is why projects such as LAMW exist that are able to aid for setting up  support for android.

Yes, there are projects such as LAMW, fpcdeluxe and others.
That is why I asked is it really too hard for Lazarus developers to build them into Lazarus for easy cross compilation.

[cdbc]

Hi
Well, then your solution is pretty easy... You just go BUY yourself a spit-spanking-new Delphi and you'll have no worries... 
Regards Benny

[Artyom]

@Artyom

try with fpcupdeluxe

Ok. Thanks for advice.
In case if I failed, I will try another IDE - Delphi and CodeTyphon Studio.
I am already very dissapointed in Lazarus.

[Artyom]

Hi
Well, then your solution is pretty easy... You just go BUY yourself a spit-spanking-new Delphi and you'll have no worries... 
Regards Benny

Ok. Thanks for advice. I will better start with CodeTyphon Studio.

[Handoko]

In case if I failed, I will try another IDE - Delphi and CodeTyphon Studio.
I am already very dissapointed in Lazarus.

If you ever failed, you can post the error messages and get help here. People here are very helpful. Just be patient, you may not get help immediately, we all here are volunteers.

I tried build my first Android apk if I remember correctly in 2016. The documentation was poor, I posted the issues but not receiving much help. No kidding, I really spent about a year, reading forum posts, documentation and doing experiments, finally I managed to build my first Android apk and got it running on my Intel-based Asus Zenfone, using Lazarus+LAMW. Learning from my mistakes, here if I can give you advice. Read the instruction and make sure you really understand and follow it correctly. My biggest mistake was, the tutorials were written for ARM-based devices but I was using an Intel-based one.

Delphi Community Edition is free. Unfortunately it has many limitations. Now, a lot of  software is cross platform, but Delphi cannot run on my Linux computer, sad.

CodeTyphon is an interesting project, I tried it. Unfortunately it is bloated with plenty of things I do not need. I don't like bloated software, and that is the reason why I don't use Windows. I prefer slim sexy cheetah instead of huge strong elephant. I heard that CodeTyphon cannot run on 'potato' computers. I occasionally need to run Lazarus on my 15 years old 2.5 GB RAM Dual Core laptop.

If you want an easy cross target development tool, maybe you can try Godot. It is for building games but I heard they are working on the module for non-games applications. I tried Godot, and I was speechless to know how easy to do cross platform compilation. Tried the bundled demo project, with come clicks, the source code that compiled and run on my PC now run on my Android phone. Everything seemed so magically, they solved the cross compiling headache and screen resolution issues.
https://godotengine.org/

[Artyom]

If you ever failed, you can post the error messages and get help here. People here are very helpful. Just be patient, you may not get help immediately, we all here are volunteers.

Have no doubt that people here are very helpful.

But I need ready to use cross-compilation from Pascal to Android.
I have no time for experiments.
I see that Lazarus is still a sandbox for programmers.
So I do not want to waste my time and try Lazarus.

Had a better opinion about this project.

I logout and delete my account.

[Handoko]

Maybe you didn't read my story carefully. I said, the attempt of building the Android program was many-many years ago. Things have changed now, better documentation and tutorials, easier to use and more users in the forum can help you if you have problem developing Android programs using Lazarus.

People are using Lazarus developing Android applications, posted on Play Store and making money:
https://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,54678.0.html

You should not only hear reviews on a single side, people are biased. You really need to download and try many tools yourself to find out which one is the best for you.

Anyways, you know you always be welcomed if you want come back.

[Artyom]

You should not only hear reviews on a single side, people are biased. You really need to download and try many tools yourself to find out which one is the best for you.

Ok. Have download LAMW.

Cross-compilers installed. Good.

But.

All other add-ons for Android apk compilation is required to install manually by instruction.

Delphi has these add-ons already installed automatically.

That is why I opened this topic and asked my question:
Is it too hard to have this add-ons for Android already installed in Standart Lazarus IDE?

Because I saw no big difference between LAMW and Standart Lazarus IDE, except cross-compilers installed, of course.

Of course, I could try to install all Android add-ons inside Standart Lazarus IDE using the instruction.

But why should I do the job of Lazarus developers which do not care to build them inside Lazarus alike Delphi?

I wished to be user of Lazarus IDE, not a developer.

I better will spend my time to develop application on Pascal for my end-users on Android platform. Using other IDE.

[Handoko]

LAMW was developed and maintained by a single person and not financial supported by others. Not sure, but I heard now several programmers have joined in the team. You can't expect it has the great support as the commercial software, which has a lot of employees.

Things are better now. In the past, installing a third party package in Lazarus was not an easy task for novice users. Thanks to GetMem, Lazarus now has OPM (Online Package Manager) that can automatically download, install and rebuild the IDE. Documentation, tutorials were poor, now much better. Some users are posting video tutorials on YouTube regularly. Lazarus and LAMW are open source community supported software, that need time to mature and get new users.

If Lazarus is 'better' than Delphi or other commercial development tools, sure they all will go bankrupt.

That is why I opened this topic and asked my question:
Is it too hard to have this add-ons for Android already installed in Standart Lazarus IDE?

I can't be sure to tell you it is hard or not, but I know it is not easy. You can make a suggestion or feature request. But the 'real' question is, who is going to do job? If you hangout in the forum for longer, you will know we are currently lack of manpower. If you visit the bugtracker, you will see a long list of bugs are waiting to be fixed.

I better will spend my time to develop application on Pascal for my end-users on Android platform. Using other IDE.

I understand and respect your decision. Which one should it be? I really have spent some time to check Delphi, I didn't mind spending money for it if it's really good but it turned out, it was not as as good as you think. Code Typhon? Well, I don't want to say bad things about it.

Why I prefer Lazarus? Slim, fast and powerful. The community here has many professional experts, nice and helpful. That is enough for me to keep using it.

[Artyom]

LAMW was developed and maintained by a single person and not financial supported by others. You can't expect it has the great support as the commercial software, which has a lot of employees...

Things are better now. In the past, installing a third party package in Lazarus was not an easy task for novice users. Thanks to GetMem, Lazarus now has OPM (Online Package Manager) that can automatically download, install and rebuild the IDE...

I can't be sure to tell you it is hard or not, but I know it is not easy....

If you hangout in the forum for longer, you will know we are currently lack of manpower.

I understand and respect your decision....

The community here has many professional experts, nice and helpful....

Ok. I appreciate very much that you understood my position AS USER of Lazarus IDE.

Regarding to problems and restrictions you have mentioned, a little bit later, I can offer you some simple steps of how to build-in support of cross-compilation for Android in STANDART Lazarus IDE according to the instruction for using LAWM.
This steps in my opinion will save a lot of time for those users who want to compile for Android. And could encrease amount of Android apps build with Lazarus and make IDE more popular for developers using FPC.

[TRon]

Delphi IDE has build-in support for Android cross-compilation. And there are no complains about the size of the download.

Sure, and embarcadero has no limitations towards android whatsoever.

No consideration for all other FPC supported targets whatsoever.