Lazarus is just and IDE on top of the Compiler FPC. The IDE is sometimes buggy, however I haven't had any real problems with it in the last couple months. I normally download the snapshot with the 2.4.3 FPC in it. I use it on Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.04. What OS are you using and what files are you downloading? Are you using a single install file or are you trying to install the IDE on top of an existing FPC Installation?

The FPC depending on the optimization switches on windows 7 sometimes fails on linking. I am not sure why. If I restart the computer and try again it normally works. As for the size I compared it to Delphi not C++. the reason being that I consider C++ its own beast of compilation headaches. Delphi Code is so similar to FPC that I consider them the same language, except on a resume! ;) The main thing that I notice is with Lazarus for the size, when you are using windows forms. It seems to compile most of the code you could ever want into the exe. Even if you are making a simple one button on a form. So a hello world application is Huge, but doesn't get much larger. You can have Dynamic Linked Libraries in FPC, and .SO files on linux systems. Even with this I still choose to use FPC over C++, Delphi etc. I think it is a wonderful project and offers great capabilities.

So every time I use Pascal I am pushed more towards using FreePascal - Object Pascal instead of Delphi. It could be that FreePascal Compiler supports almost every OS I can think of or that it supports so really nifty language changes that Delphi does not. Things like += or ++ and --! also operator overloading ;) Well to be fair that one was added to Delphi not to long ago. But with my new extensive use of Linux servers and my utter dislike of compiling C++ programs I have been using FreePascal Compiler with Lazarus (I love this IDE) to develop all of my compiled server applications. I am even starting to work on a CGI Framework that supports PascalScript, kinda like a PHP of Pascal ;) But that is nothing serious just for fun. The only downsides I have noticed about the usage of FreePascal Compiler is that at times it seems unstable and FreePascal Compiler applications are a bit larger than Delphi ones. Any thoughts?

Well, I don't really have anything to say besides: I like C# more than VB.Net. VB.Net is by far simpler for beginners to learn on their own, and far better than VB 6. In my opinion that is the usefulness of VB.Net. Now, I may be biased because I have to work with VB.Net everyday at work. But that aside I think C# is the perfect blend of a Verbose C based language. So, why would I even bother to use VB.Net. Plus, VB.Net allows programmers to have bad application structure. Modules? no good, why on earth do I want a Global (Public) Static Class that you don't need to reference to use? It is simply a bad idea in my opinion. I am working on several large applications and it just makes it difficult when a coworker starts putting functions in Modules to manipulate form's components (that should be in the form's class). I have a feeling this will be a never ending argument. So, I rest my case with this. Delphi Pascal OWNS all other languages so there. ;P But honestly, thanks for reading my posts and I hope that I don't offend anyone. I just don't like VB.Net so much.

Is the delphi community so small that there are no Delphi programmers here? I would like to introduce myself :) I am a hobby Delphi/Free Pascal Developer, as the Company I work for only uses VB.Net, Or I would be using delphi and Free Pascal for everything. I would like to offer my services to the community if you have any questions please ask them and I will do my best to at least try and find an answer for you. Thanks, I hope to see this community grow.

C#:

string strMyName;

or VB.Net:

Dim strMyName As String

This one is not as bad but still more than you need. VB is easier to read for someone that does not spend all of their time in code, therefore are not worthy to be called Software Engineers :) or so some say. C#:

public bool UpdateMyName(ref string strName, int intSpaces, bool blnReverse)

or VB.Net:

Public Function UpdateMyName(ByRef strName As String, ByVal intSpaces As Integer, ByVal blnReverse As Boolean) As Boolean

you see a simple function is really long. Imagine this in a more real example. some of our functions at work have 15 arguments and all the extra unneeded words clutter your code. There is no arguing that VB is structured as well as C#. Simply fact that it is to verbose for large projects.

Well, I can say that I use VB.Net every week day. It was in place in the company before I was hired. And I wish every day at work that they would have chosen C#. VB has one huge problem, it looks nasty. There is way to much code to have your code clean. I am spending tons of time trying to read my coworkers code. There are NO ; I like them and want to see them. Because they exist in C# a new line doesn't need _ you can just simply start a new line. To be a little fair VB.Net 2010 has added the support for new lines in most cases without the use of the underscore. But I don't say VB programmers aren't as good as C# programmers. Simply put I don't enjoy VB.Net!