Ask HN: Which language/IDE you use to make binaries (.exe) for Windows? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Which language/IDE you use to make binaries (.exe) for Windows?

3 pointsunpopularopp9 comments

I remember when I was a kid it was easy to make standalone .exe files with Turbo Pascal for example but somehow I don't see this is the case anymore. Like people just share the Python .py file for example. Is there a modern IDE to make simple standalone .exe files? (maybe GUI too)

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There are several options you could explore. My personal favorites are:

- RAD Studio[0] (which includes the possibility to use C++ with C++Builder or Object Pascal with Delphi, a language by the venerable Anders Hejslberg, creator of C# .NET). Dev-C++ comes as part of this[1]. The executables can be made portable entirely, not needing to distribute these with any DLL or whatsoever.

- Sciter[2], which is not an IDE, but a multiplatform GUI Framework. You can use HTML, CSS and JS to create the UI, and then back-end with any language you like (C++, C#, Python, among others).

- Lazarus IDE[3], which is highly recommended as the free alternative to Delphi, but Delphi indeed has a Community version and I just use that because I'm used to.

- Visual Studio[4], If you want to go "traditional" you can use Visual Studio, the official suite from Microsoft for such a purpose. Please keep in mind that you'll require a framework installed on the other end (on your customer's PC) if you want these executables to run, most Windows installations do come with it, but some older ones don't. This is not a requirement with RAD Studio/C++Builder/Delphi which is why I naturally lean towards them.

[0]: https://www.embarcadero.com/products/rad-studio

[1]: https://www.embarcadero.com/free-tools/dev-cpp

[2]: https://sciter.com/

[3]: https://www.lazarus-ide.org/

[4]: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/

Thank you for Sciter; guess I need to learn more

Sadly, Sciter's author failed to raise enough donations to make it open source.

I personally think it doesn't have to be open source to be successful. I know it makes it more appealing, but you can sypport the creator as well by purchasing the licenses.

Plus, the technology gives you a clear technical advantage over something like... let's say: Electron.

You can use Object Pascal.

Free Pascal: https://www.freepascal.org/

Lazarus, a Delphi clone: https://www.lazarus-ide.org/

Delphi itself (Community Edition is free but only if revenue is under $5,000 per year): https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi

You can still make EXE files in Free Pascal, or you can use Lazarus (Build with Free Pasca) to make GUI EXE files. I do it all the time.

Lazarus can also build for a wide range of other platforms as well.

For Python, you can use py2exe.

https://www.py2exe.org/

You can package anything in an exe, even python. If you want code that ja just binary (no runtime) then C++ or Rust is your best bet.

I’ve had success bundling pyQT GUI apps with pyInstaller so it can definitely be done with python.

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