Dev-Pascal

Dev-Pascal is a smart integrated development environment, aimed at programmers who are looking for an efficient and convenient way to create Pascal based applications. To accomplish this purpose, it uses an advanced compiler and debugger, with a setup creation option.

Although the project is fairly old and hasn’t received updates in a long time, it still continues to attract users, because of its simplicity and ease of use. Developers who need a friendly programming environment for compiling and building Pascal apps should definitely give it a try.

Dev-Pascal sports a rather basic and dull interface, but this is compensated by the generous array of features that unveil once you start exploring it. The rich menus cover everything that a developer needs, from the start of the project to the compilation part.

The number of uses it was built for is quite impressive, for an application of its age. You can create Windows and console applications, skeletons, DLLs, GTK+ packages, as well as OpenGL templates.

Moreover, you can add or remove code to an existing project, as well as to edit resource files and to generate MakeFiles. The compiler comes with various options that include the possibility to refine the syntax analysis, as well as to optimize the code.

Also attached to it are a few handy utilities such as a DOS shell, a setup creator and a package manager. Other features include code completion, syntax highlighting, project templates, multi-window editing and the possibility to customize the user interface.

As a conclusion to the facts stated above, Dev-Pascal makes a decent choice for beginners, as well as advanced programmers, for the time being. However, due the fact that development halted quite a while ago, it’s unlikely that it stands the test of time throughout the upcoming years, taking into consideration that other strong IDEs are being enhanced on a daily basis.