| Author: | Vitaly Miryanov |
| Developer: | Allan Mertner |
| Released: | [1] |
| Latest Release Version: | 2.1.279 |
| Programming Language: | Object Pascal, assembly language |
| Operating System: | Windows, OS/2, Linux |
| Platform: | IA-32 |
| Genre: | Compiler, integrated development environment |
| License: | Freeware (Windows, OS/2 2.0 or later, Linux) |
| Website: | vpascal.com (archived), Online community |
Virtual Pascal is a freeware 32-bit Pascal programming language compiler, integrated development environment (IDE), and debugger for OS/2 and Microsoft Windows, with some limited Linux support. Virtual Pascal was developed by Vitaly Miryanov and later maintained by Allan Mertner.
The compiler is compatible with Turbo Pascal, Borland Delphi, and Free Pascal, although language- and RTL-compatibility is limited for features introduced after Delphi v2 and FPC 1.0.x.
VP was mainly used for these purposes:
Significant features of Virtual Pascal include:
The compiler was quite popular in the Bulletin board system (BBS) scene, probably because of its OS/2 port and being one of the few affordable multi-target compilers. Also Turbo Pascal had been popular in the BBS scene too, but its successor, Delphi was suddenly for Windows only. Virtual Pascal provided a migration path for existing codebases.
There has been pressure from some users to license Virtual Pascal as open-source software. This has not been done, for these reasons:
Although it had a wide user base in the late 1990s, VP has not evolved significantly since 2001, and after a few maintenance-only releases, the owner declared that development had ceased in 2005.[1]
On 4 Apr 2005, Virtual Pascal was announced 'dead' on the official site. The last released version (2.1 Build 279) was announced on 13 May 2004.[1]
An initial version was released on 4 July 1999, with the last known version released on 26 September 1999. This version was maintained by Jörg Pleumann. Run-Time Library to 32-bit DPMI.