Looking for freeware C++ IDE

Oboro

topic, basically

want to run it on Windows XP, not looking for any more features than the basic compile/run/debug

thanks

iTunesIsEvil

Eclipse will do what you want, and then some. It's not too bad resource-wise though.

fforde

Eclipse is amazing as a Java IDE, hands down it is my favorite IDE I have ever used, but for C/C++ I don't feel like it's quite there yet. It is still good but it is kind of a pain to get set up and a there are some really annoying quirks once you do have it all up and running.

You should also consider Visual Studio Express though.

blincoln

Yeah, if Visual C++ Express is anything like the C# version, it's great because the only thing you don't get from the commercial version is the ability to work with Solutions.

Nova_C

I suggest Bloodshed's IDE:

http://www.bloodshed.net/

Good stuff.

fforde

blincoln wrote:

Yeah, if Visual C++ Express is anything like the C# version, it's great because the only thing you don't get from the commercial version is the ability to work with Solutions.

And integrated Source Control. But if your not working with a team of people this is mostly a non-issue.

durandal4532

lcc-win32 worked pretty well for me, but I was using it for a rather small project.

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lcc-win32/

It was coded by only a few people, so it still has some bugs, but it's a step above Notepad++.

blincoln

fforde wrote:

And integrated Source Control. But if your not working with a team of people this is mostly a non-issue.

Good point. I'm not a fan of Visual Source Safe, so I didn't even think of that.

Yarr

Nova_C wrote:

I suggest Bloodshed's IDE:

http://www.bloodshed.net/

Good stuff.

this also get's my vote. Easy to use and not a resource hog.

iTunesIsEvil

fforde wrote:

Eclipse is amazing as a Java IDE, hands down it is my favorite IDE I have ever used, but for C/C++ I don't feel like it's quite there yet. It is still good but it is kind of a pain to get set up and a there are some really annoying quirks once you do have it all up and running.

You should also consider Visual Studio Express though.

I was under the impression anything built with any of the VS 2005 products would be requiring the .NET 2 framework to be installed on the machines as well... Which kinda ruins the idea of C++. Might as well work with C# (<3) at that point.

blincoln

iTunesIsEvil wrote:

I was under the impression anything built with any of the VS 2005 products would be requiring the .NET 2 framework to be installed on the machines as well... Which kinda ruins the idea of C++. Might as well work with C# (<3) at that point.

No, you can still build standalone apps in C++ with VS2005. I'm sure there is an option to use the .NET libraries, but it's not required for that language.

fforde

iTunesIsEvil wrote:

I was under the impression anything built with any of the VS 2005 products would be requiring the .NET 2 framework to be installed on the machines as well... Which kinda ruins the idea of C++. Might as well work with C# (<3) at that point.

Depends on what you do. You can code in C# which is all .NET obviously. You can also code in C++ and use some "Managed" libraries which basically means your code is half native and half running on the .NET virtual machine. Then you can just do all old school C++ code, unmanaged, which is compiled into native code and can be run without the .NET framework.

They really confused everyone with the whole .NET thing though. For one it's a crappy name that sounds like it should have something to do with networking tools or web services. And then second they tacked the name onto the last version of Visual Studio, for seemingly no reason.

blincoln

Yeah, they really screwed up with that name. MS seems to have ditched it for most other things though. I think they should get rid of it for the .NET Framework too and call COM 3 "Object Model of Firm Resolve and Swift Victory" or something, so that it can't be confused with anything else and is easy to search for online.

subedii

Yarr wrote:

Nova_C wrote:

I suggest Bloodshed's IDE:

http://www.bloodshed.net/

Good stuff.

this also get's my vote. Easy to use and not a resource hog.

Yeah I'm going to have to go with this one as well. Simple, does the job, doesn't confuse the beginner with complex weirdo configuration stuff.

Honestly I was a little shocked when I installed it and compiled my first program right away without having to configure anything.

Oboro

Thanks for the variety of suggestions, think I'm going to roll with the Bloodshed one for the time being. Really smooth sailing here, not a lot of hassle which is what I am looking for.

Honestly I'll probably just be screwing around with USACO practice problems and all, so this is perfectly good. Thanks again, y'all!