Thread: Compilers for Windows 98?

Dev-C++

A nice alternative to paying a load of cash for a complicated program.

I wouldn't call MSVC++ 6.0 a complicated program. I've never run into anything "complicated" about it. The bottom line is though, Visual C++ costs a lot. If you can easily afford it, I say go ahead. Otherwise, go for Borland or Dev or something like that.

>>>
On my machine I have VC++ 6.0 installed, but have read that this is not a good compiler/tool to use if you plan on writing software for both Windows and other platforms (in my case Linux).
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If you already have VC++ you don't need anything else. You write standard C++, it'll compile with VC on Windows and gcc on linux. What's wrong with that?

Sure, if you start using system specific calls, but the same is true of any other compiler.

>>> I've never run into anything "complicated" about it.

Totally agree. It has a lot of features, but you don't have to use them if you don't want to.

VC++ 6 isn't as standards-compliant as GCC or MingW (the compiler Dev-C++ uses). In some cases, you'll get errors. The following won't compile on MSVC.

Code:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main( void ) 
{
  for( int i = 0; i < 4; i++ ) cout<<"Hello"<<endl;
  for( int i = 0; i < 5; i++ ) cout<<"Goodbye"<<endl;
}

True, but I would never do that anyway. I always declare all of my variables at the top of the function they are in. I always have done, and luckily, every software house that I have worked for had installation standards which decreed that it shall be done that way.

Just because something is possible doesn't mean it is necessarily desirable.

However, yes there are a few deviations from the ANSI standard with VC++, there are with all compilers though. The IDE, debugger and other tools that come with VC++ would make it my tool of choice.