Thread: New free compilers from Borland

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    Smile New free compilers from Borland

    Has anyone checked the new Turbo Explorer compilers from Borland?
    They seem to be nice for free compilers, not a total joke like the Express crap from M$, I'm downloading the new Turbo C++ and I should be posting my impressions after I install it.

    If anyone already downloaded that, is it a good compiler and is it (almost) as good as M$ Visual Studio 2005?

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    Code Goddess Prelude's Avatar
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    >not a total joke like the Express crap from M$
    Hmm, I haven't had any problems with VS 2005 Express. There are minor irritations for me like macro support and a lack of standard project templates, but that's consistent with some retail versions of Visual Studio as well. I would hardly call it a joke, but I'd love to hear why you think it is.

    >is it a good compiler and is it (almost) as good as M$ Visual Studio 2005?
    Yes, it's a good compiler and yes, I think it's comparable to Visual Studio in many ways. But Borland, while competitive in features, is a different vendor and the compiler has a completely different feel. That should be expected.
    My best code is written with the delete key.

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    The problem of VS Express, in my opinion, is exactly the lack of features to write compile native Win32 apps (you can install the PSDK but you still have no visual way of editing a resource file and you don't have MFC support), it's foccused on .NET stuff, if one decides to write stuff for that platform, why not go on and learn C# that's a language born for that?

    Perhaps I was exaggerated when I called it a joke, but for real world native Win32 programming, it's just like free IDEs (Dev-C++, etc).
    Last edited by Etinin; 11-05-2006 at 11:59 AM.

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    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Don't expect MFC support from Borland either. That would be a laugh if they did.

    Both are excellent tools. if you want MFC you have to open your pockets (like you had in the past).
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    MFC killed my cat! manutd's Avatar
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    Exactly. I don't use V-C++ for the reasons specified, and I don't use Borland because it seems..old. I use gcc/Dev-C++ as the compiler is constantly updated and they are open source.
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    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    > Exactly. I don't use V-C++ for the reasons specified, and I don't use Borland because it seems..old. I use gcc/Dev-C++ as the compiler is constantly updated and they are open source.

    If you don't mind I'm going to deconstruct this:

    I don't use V-C++ for the reasons specified
    Fair enough. So you want more Win32 support, MFC support, and you want embed visual tools for handling resource files. Those were the reasons specified. Before we move on, just old on to this thought, The Express edition offers full win32 support. We'll get back to this...

    I don't use Borland because it seems..old
    Do I comment on this, or let you? I better let you. It's just too silly of an argument.

    I use gcc/Dev-C++ as the compiler is constantly updated and they are open source.
    I use gcc too (or more accurately, MinGW port). But here's where the fun beggins. You see, gcc (or mingw for all that matters) doesn't offer MFC support either. Dev-C++ editor doesn't offer a visual tool for resource files handling either. So... not much of an advantage is it?

    And what's worst... MinGW Win32 API support is actually inferior to Borland's or Microsoft's implementations!

    And what's this about open source? What do you care if its open source if you don't plan to actually look at the source code and change it to suit your needs? Free is enough, isn't it?

    Also updates to the gcc core are actually sparse and far apart. And thank goodness for that!
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    MFC killed my cat! manutd's Avatar
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    Sorry, wxDev-C++ which does have a resource editor.
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    Reverse Engineer maxorator's Avatar
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    Don't expect MFC support from Borland either. That would be a laugh if they did.
    Microsoft would sue them.
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    But borland does at least have VCL which is pretty good for designing an interface quickly.

    But we don't want to turn this thread into a comparison between compilers, do we?

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    Code Goddess Prelude's Avatar
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    >But we don't want to turn this thread into a comparison between compilers, do we?
    Apparently that was your intention, if what you said was what you meant. Your first post could actually be called flamebait.
    My best code is written with the delete key.

  11. #11
    MFC killed my cat! manutd's Avatar
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    First post:
    Quote Originally Posted by Etinin
    ...not a total joke like the Express crap from M$...If anyone already downloaded that, is it a good compiler and is it (almost) as good as M$ Visual Studio 2005?
    Final post:
    Quote Originally Posted by Etinin
    But we don't want to turn this thread into a comparison between compilers, do we?
    That's called hypocrisy.
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    Quote Originally Posted by manutd
    First post:Final post:That's called hypocrisy.
    Think whatever you want, I just think we shouldn't go off-topic and start comparing MS VS or MFC with open-source tools, but we should compare the features of these new compilers I was talking about with other compilers' features..

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    Quote Originally Posted by Etinin
    But we don't want to turn this thread into a comparison between compilers, do we?
    Quote Originally Posted by Etinin
    but we should compare the features of these new compilers


    You're just backpedaling... If you didn't want this thread to turn into a comparison, you shouldn't have even mentioned MS VS.

  14. #14
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Who cares! Move on, for pete's sake.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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