Free C++ compiler / environment

HiredGun

I'm a senior in college now. Back in my high school days, I used to do a lot of work with C++, but I haven't touched it since then.

I have some free time now and I'd like to get back into messing with C++ and particularly with some simple graphical stuff.

Back in HS, we used a version of Borland Turbo C++... I think version 4.5. Anyway, I'm looking for any freeware compiler or dev environment which behaves in a roughly similar way (or really, my only concern that I don't have to re-learn a lot of new stuff). So what's a good compiler for me to go with? Also, is there a dependable set of standard libraries out there that I should be using?

Thanks in advance!

Jimmy King

You have several choices. GCC is available for windows in Cygwin and is free. There's also MS VC++ Express which is free. I seem to remember seeing Borland offering the Turbo series for free again, too.

Valkun

There's also a plug-in for Eclipse to make it a C++ IDE. You'll have to provide your own compiler however, like GCC.

cyphr

Dev-C++, as far as I know, is considered one of the best environments second to VS. It also comes with a Mingw port of GCC, although you can use any GCC-based compiler.

aspa

Code::Blocks is like Dev-C++, a free MingW-backed environment. It even has support for the fantastic package system of Dev-C++, which lets you download and install libraries with pretty much no hassle.

LoneIgadzra

Dev-C++ is a good place to start, though I eventually found the GUI too limited, and wanted to use the FMOD API, which won't like to mingw anyway, so I moved to Visual C++ Express. Haven't really had any complaints yet, and it has a lot of nice functionality for compiling on Windows. In terms of GUI, it seems to be the best free C-based IDE for Windows.

If you want some flavor of command line GCC, it comes down to mingw and cygwin, though I don't fully understand the differences between them, since the wikipedia entries are laced with jargon. I have the vague impression that cygwin provides some additional ability to compile Linux/Unix software, though I could be mistaken, while mingw is simpler and easier to install/configure.

fforde

Most places I have worked at have used Visual Studio (get the Express Edition Jimmy King mentioned). If you use that you'd be learning an environment that you will probably be using again in the future professionally.

Eclipse is an awesome dev environment too, but the C++ Development Tools for it are really just not ready for prime time in my opinion. The environment is awesome for Java, but for C++ I would recommend against it, especially if you are working on a Windows PC.

Firebrand

I've used DevC++ / mingw32 for a while, and it's pretty neat considered it's free, but afaik it hasn't been in development for quite a while and the most recent version that's out there has it's fair share of bugs.

I'd recommend you try Visual Studio C++ Express first and see how well that works for you.

Philodox

What environment you use should really depend on what type of C++ programming you plan on doing. If your interests are primarily Windows related Visual Studio C++ has an express edition is available for free.

markrr23

You can always download a Linux live disc ISO (Ubuntu, Knoppix, etc...) and use the built-in compilers. A little more downloading and work than just using MinGW+gcc, but you also get all of the UNIXy goodness.

PiRaTe!!!

I use the combo of Visual C++ Express Edition as an editor (I like the editing environment of Visual C++) and Cygwin as a compiler.

LoneIgadzra

So I just installed cygwin for the hell of it, and apparently it's pretty much a Linux terminal for Windows, along with some automatically-downloadable software packages. However, once I got it set up, the only form of gcc I could find in setup was mingw, so I don't see how there's some kind of choice between the two.

By the way, this is the best text editor I've been able to find: http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net

Using IDE's is kind inefficient in a lot of ways, and I gotta say TextPad sucks and anyone who loves it is a masochist. Not only is it not free, it doesn't even antialias text or offer a convenient way to switch between syntax coloring profiles. (Not to mention it's CSS profile is horribly outdated.)