[fpc-pascal] Support for C++ library format?

Juha Manninen juha.manninen at phnet.fi
Mon Oct 5 01:03:53 CEST 2009


Hi!

Is there a plan to allow the use of C++ libraries with FPC?

Now C libraries can be used and many of them have Pascal mappings.
It seems C++ libraries can be used somehow, too. I was looking at qt-library 
mappings for the Lazarus project. All the classes' methods were mapped into 
"flat" global functions which had a handle (the self-pointer) as their first 
parameter. I was hoping to use the classes defined in C++ directly as Object 
Pascal classes.

This could be a stupid question. There may be big technical obstacles doing 
it. Like multiply inheritance and C++ templates which should be supported 
somehow.

My idea was to use a more sane language for programming with the great C++ 
libraries that exist (like qt). C++ just has so much weight from its history 
and from the standards committees.
Many people use Python and other dynamic language bindings for those libraries 
for the same reason. However they carry a big performance and memory penalty 
which is often too much. A language like Object Pascal (maybe with some 
extensions) would be a perfect match there.

Where can I find more information related to the FPC libraries? If anyone has 
other similar ideas, please let me know.


Regards,
Juha Manninen



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