{"slug": "free-pascal", "name": "Free Pascal", "category": "dev-libs", "category_name": "Libraries and frameworks", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 4, "warners": 1, "score": 1.735, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2025-11-02", "latest": "2026-10-19", "why": "I love it so much, it has a great balance between: readability, fast write/compile/debug cycle and great performance.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I love it so much, it has a great balance between: readability, fast write/compile/debug cycle and great performance.", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.freepascal.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Free Pascal"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 802356160, "item_id": 50147260, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50147260", "by": "Perenti", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Free Pascal.", "excerpt": "I love Free Pascal. I've tried using claude/codex/qwen to write in it, but all the models seem to love writing uncompileable code, and ending up in fearsome knots over it. It's my number one \"knock something together that just works\" language for humans though.", "context": "", "use_case": "quick working programs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages"}, {"id": 733981314, "item_id": 45873832, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45873832", "by": "anthk", "date": "2025-11-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Lazarus/Free Pascal it's doing it fine in some niches.", "excerpt": "JimTCL. On Pascal, is not that old. Lazarus/Free Pascal it's doing it fine in some niches.", "context": "", "use_case": "Pascal compiler", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Do you use an old or 'unfashionable' programming language?"}, {"id": 732745376, "item_id": 45796586, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45796586", "by": "yonisto", "date": "2025-11-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it so much, it has a great balance between: readability, fast write/compile/debug cycle and great performance.", "excerpt": "I do! I love it so much, it has a great balance between: readability, fast write/compile/debug cycle and great performance. On tip: LLM is God send for it. So many times I find what I was looking for written in some other language and the LLM does the conversion.", "context": "", "use_case": "low level programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Anyone else use FreePascal as their low level language?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 753165313, "item_id": 47072832, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47072832", "by": "zac23or", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "It's not my experience.", "excerpt": "> Unigui has been around for over a decade Is it possible to take a VCL project, change some configuration, and turn it into a web server? Unigui is similar to Intraweb, isn't it? You need to recreate the project as a Unigui/Intraweb project. > No, fpc builds, optimizes, and runs exactly like Delphi It's not my experience. As an example: https://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,4958 > for years, this part", "context": "longtime Delphi developer", "use_case": "Delphi-compatible compiler", "switched_from": "", "story": "Delphi is 31 years old \u2013 innovation timeline"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["quick working programs", "delphi-compatible compiler", "pascal compiler", "low level programming"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50144066", "title": "Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47003672", "title": "Delphi is 31 years old \u2013 innovation timeline", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45873180", "title": "Ask HN: Do you use an old or 'unfashionable' programming language?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45693719", "title": "Ask HN: Anyone else use FreePascal as their low level language?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"warn": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 802356160, "item_id": 50147260, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50147260", "by": "Perenti", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Free Pascal.", "excerpt": "I love Free Pascal. I've tried using claude/codex/qwen to write in it, but all the models seem to love writing uncompileable code, and ending up in fearsome knots over it. It's my number one \"knock something together that just works\" language for humans though.", "context": "", "use_case": "quick working programs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Free Pascal compiler now supports dynamic packages"}, {"id": 753165313, "item_id": 47072832, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47072832", "by": "zac23or", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "It's not my experience.", "excerpt": "> Unigui has been around for over a decade Is it possible to take a VCL project, change some configuration, and turn it into a web server? Unigui is similar to Intraweb, isn't it? You need to recreate the project as a Unigui/Intraweb project. > No, fpc builds, optimizes, and runs exactly like Delphi It's not my experience. As an example: https://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,4958 > for years, this part", "context": "longtime Delphi developer", "use_case": "Delphi-compatible compiler", "switched_from": "", "story": "Delphi is 31 years old \u2013 innovation timeline"}, {"id": 733981314, "item_id": 45873832, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45873832", "by": "anthk", "date": "2025-11-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Lazarus/Free Pascal it's doing it fine in some niches.", "excerpt": "JimTCL. On Pascal, is not that old. Lazarus/Free Pascal it's doing it fine in some niches.", "context": "", "use_case": "Pascal compiler", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Do you use an old or 'unfashionable' programming language?"}, {"id": 732745376, "item_id": 45796586, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45796586", "by": "yonisto", "date": "2025-11-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it so much, it has a great balance between: readability, fast write/compile/debug cycle and great performance.", "excerpt": "I do! I love it so much, it has a great balance between: readability, fast write/compile/debug cycle and great performance. On tip: LLM is God send for it. So many times I find what I was looking for written in some other language and the LLM does the conversion.", "context": "", "use_case": "low level programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Anyone else use FreePascal as their low level language?"}]}