ide for winapi programming

what is the free one out there? i think the ide is called bloodshed or somethign? maybe devc++? not sure. can somebody point me to this supposed free and downloadable winapi environment/compiler/linker?

thanks!

Dev-C++ is an IDE produced by Bloodshed Software, it sits on top of the Mingw compiler. Their homepage is here.

http://www.bloodshed.net/

The FAQ has other links to other comilers and stuff.

Here's a tip from now on: if you think you know the name of something, google it. It saves us all a bit of time.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...=Google+Search

See that? Searched for one of the terms you knew, "bloodshed". Now look at the first entry. "Bloodshed software", description being "Free C, C, Pascal environment and compilers. Programmers resources: Delphi, C, Pascal. Freeware". Sound promising, right? Now look at the sub-entry (the indented entry under it). "Bloodshed Software - Dev-C++" - wow. Imagine that. The two terms you knew. Now that's REALLY promising isn't it? It's category even sounds perfect- "Computers_>_Programming_>_Languages_>_C++_>_Compi lers".

My suggestion to you would be to click on that link and see where it takes you.

My, isn't google amazing? Can we move this to the FAQ board under "How to use google?" :)

Quote:

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Originally posted by adrianxw
Dev-C++ is an IDE produced by Bloodshed Software, it sits on top of the Mingw compiler. Their homepage is here.

http://www.bloodshed.net/

The FAQ has other links to other comilers and stuff.

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http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html

is this the one i want to download? what do you suggest, 5 (beta) or 4 (i guess full version and tested/aproved)?

thanks! :D

oh, and one more thing. is there a downloadable documentation on the winapi so i can reference for params, usuage, etc.? i konw there's an online doc at microsoft, but most of the time when i program i'm not connected and i dont connect up for that. so can i download a reference for winapi somewhere?

thanks!

>>> 5 (beta) or 4 (i guess full version and tested/aproved)?

Your choice I would suggest. Beta's are often pretty good and have the newest features, but may not be stable. I don't know you or your skill level. If you can work around problems, go for the beta, if, as I suspect, (you didn't read the board FAQ, the free compilers list, or search google), you are something of a newcomer, I would go with the tried and trusted.

I've never used Dev-C++ so I don't know what documentation it comes with, anyone else?

You can download API references from literally thousands of sources, they tend to be big - look at what you get with the IDE before bothering to download megabytes of stuff you don't need. Be careful with downloaded reference guides, they can be out of date.

okay, thanks for the reply. i think i'll just use 4. i'm a bit iffy with beta versions. and i'll see if it has any docs in it before downloading the other big files like you say, but where exactly are these big files?

thanks.

(you didn't read the board FAQ, the free compilers list, or search google)

sorry :D i'll go do that right away.

the file is pretty big. 7.5megs. is there a way to download part of the file now and the rest later? i'm on dialup. :)

i had downloaded v.2 beta a while back ago and its just filled with bugs. im going to download version 4 now and hopefully thatll be good.

I downloaded DevC++ 5 beta earlier but i had several problems, i asked in this board but couldn't fix them. I had to switch back to version 4.

I think that Microsoft Visual Studio is a superior IDE. I also believe that it is worth paying the high price to get a decent IDE if you really care about programming. Plus, paying for something entitles you to certain benefits such as upgrades, the MSDN collection, etc. But I suppose that if you simply don't have the money, a free IDE is the only way to go.

Please keep in mind that Dev-C++, while free, is very much a "decent" IDE and can (and often is) used to build complex applications. I'm not saying that the IDE is vastly superior to Visual C++ in every possible way, but "anyone who cares about programming" should be pleased to have a high-quality, free IDE.

so far, i really do love devc++ v. 4. its great and just what i need. the only thing that i could want is tool tips for the api functions. right now i'm looking for docs on the win api as a reference (i started a thread on it).

Someone's probably already said this in your other thread, but the MSDN library is just about the best reference for anything that isn't UNIX. Provided you have a cheap net connection, you can use it as your primary reference. If you don't have an adequate net connection however, you could always buy MS Visual Studio, and get a free subscription to the MSDN collection. ;)

not likely. :D but someone just replied with a link to an executable that might be of some help.