Programming for Windows - Which IDE to use??

Hi, I got a great idea for a projects and i was wondering what developement studio suite i should use to make it in. I already decided that its going to be done in C++ and its going to use either COM or .NET. Im fine with iether or.

My question is what dev studio is the best for such a task of designing fully functional application for home use, such as a internet chat/swap program. My choices are limitless because I can get any studio for free from my university. Right now my two top choices are VC++ .NET and Borland C++ Builder 6.

This is going to be an app designed for windows which uses the internet alot as well as a MySQL server which it has to access along with heavy CPU use for algorithmic solutions.

Can anyone provide pros and cons and any suggestions they might have as to wich suite I should invest the time to learn. :confused:

I think, VC++ .NET cannot export the compiling commands to a makefile. But if you are content to doing everything within the GUI menus, then this limitation is not a problem.

.NET has its ups and downs, i noticed. I dont like the fact that it has its own built in garbage collection; means less power to the programmer. On the other side it has its own garbage collection, which means less work for the programmer....lol

So far im leaning towards Borland C++ Builder....

I come to you to seek information from the masses...

Borland's IDE is very stable and full-featured. I don't know much about VC++ .NET, but historically at least Microsoft compilers have had some very annoying bugs and idiosyncracies (like not compiling standard-compliant code), so beware.

Thanks Sebastiani, I noticed that back in the day of Visual C++ 6, that programs had alot of issues, bugs and I almost noticed that Visual Studio was not very ANSI compliant. Not to mention the VC++ 6 compiler was very inefficient....

On the Win32/Win64 platform, go with VC++. The latest verion, .NET 2003, is claimed to be 98% C++ compliant supporting the Loki library.

Kuphryn

>I dont like the fact that it has its own built in garbage collection
This is a .NET feature. You can write pure C++ using the .NET compiler.

Either the Borland or Microsoft compilers should be fine for almost anything. It's really a personal choice.

If you are going to use .NET / CLI , go with Microsoft. I think Microsoft is still inventing & defining this shtuff, and it's going to be tough for anyone else to keep up!

Stick with what you know. What are you using now? It's always easier to stick with the compiler/IDE that you know. ...On the other hand, it never hurts to learn a new one!

Use something popular. It's easier to get help if you're using something popular, and it's easier to help others if you know the most popular IDE's. Both of these are widely used. MSVC++ is the most popular in industry... I get the impression that Microsoft is well entrenched in acedemia too. Borland is quite popular with individuals... and with companies who consider Microsoft a competitor or a an evil corporation.

Watch out for "political" opinions. Some people really hate Microsoft. I don't hate Microsoft, in fact I use MSVC++. But, sometimes I make an effort to support the competition. :)

Don't worry about compliance. Both of these compilers are very compliant. I think MS beat Borland in the last Dr. Dobbs Journal evaluation... I don't remember... both were near the top. Compliance is usually a serious issue only when you're porting from one environment to another. When you're coding from scratch, you'll usually find a work-around fairly quickly... Of course, if you spend a week trying to debug something, only to find out it's the compiler... well, then you'll hate that compiler! :D

I wouldn't worry about "efficiency" either. There are too many variables... how you define efficiency, how you set your compile options, the size of your source, the structure of your program, etc. Your program may compile better on Borland, my program may compile better on Microsoft. If you are concerned with execuition speed, check out the Intel compiler. They know how to get the best possible performance from a processor!!!

Check-out MFC, and "Builder". Microsoft has MFC, and Borland has "Builder". These are high-level features / tools that sort-of write the GUI code for you. These tools are where I would expect to find big differences between the two IDEs. I haven't used either of these tools 'cause I want to get my hands dirty with the WinAPI. Again, if you already know one of these, it's up to you if you want to stick with what you know or learn something new.