Delphi compilers and toolchains

Delphi IDE contains different compilers for generating apps for different platforms. The IDE manages all necessary source code files needed for building an app. It also takes care of passing correct parameters to right compilers and manages their output. In the IDE, it is possible to build, deploy, and run an app directly on the mobile device connected with a USB cable by just pressing the Run button. Obviously, it is also possible to generate an executable application without running it. Sometimes it is very handy to be able to step into an application as it is executed in the host operating system. This process is called debugging. In the Delphi IDE, you can run your program with or without debugging.

There are in total eight different Delphi compilers installed with the Delphi 10.2 version:

These compilers are typically installed into the C:\Program Files (x86)\Embarcadero\Studio\19.0\bin folder. The bin folder of Delphi has been added to the Windows path by the installer, so you can try and execute them directly.When  executed with no parameters, Delphi compilers will just display their version numbers and possible command-line switches, as shown in the following screenshot:

Take a look at the following screenshot:

In the IDE, we do not need to invoke command-line compilers directly. The IDE is doing this for us when we choose to either run, build, or compile our project. It will also take care of outputting the resulting binary files into a separate folder per every supported platform and build configuration. When we build, deploy, and run our apps, we can see in the bottom part a log of all commands being executed, parameters passed to them, and their output.