Thread: Recommend a compiler and IDE for C/C++

  1. #1
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    Recommend a compiler and IDE for C/C++

    Hello everyone. I'm guessing this is the best place to post this request....

    I've been away from C/C++ programming for over 12 years...I've been programming perl and php mostly. Now, I'm fooling around with pic controllers and I'm realizing that I need to get back to my roots.

    Can anyone recommend a good compiler and IDE for C/C++ that will work in the Windows environment? I used to use EditPad Pro but I don't know if theres something else better.

    Thanks,
    Brian
    Last edited by bpasternak; 02-13-2008 at 11:18 AM. Reason: Add more descriptive

  2. #2
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    Take a look at cpwiki's entry on IDEs.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

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    Thank you Laserlight for the info and link. I see that there is a Dev-C++. I use Dev-PHP so I'll give that a shot.

    Thanks again.

    Best,
    Brian

  4. #4
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    Dev-C++ should work, but it is no longer being maintained. Personally, I rotate between the MinGW port of GCC at the command line (sometimes with SCons), Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Express, and Netbeans 6.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

  5. #5
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Bloodshed dev-c++
    Code::Blocks
    Visual Studio

    all are good IDE/compilers

    Code::Blocks is my personal preference for free compilers, and Visual Studio is my overall preference. I have used bloodshed for a lot fo things in the past though, and it is good. There is a new version of Borland Turbo C++ out as well, I havent tested it yet though.

  6. #6
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    A friend of mine loves KTechLab and I seem him often working on it. He loves these controllers...

    The GNU compiler collection was also ported. But the mother of all IDEs seems to be MPLAB
    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.

  7. #7
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    I swear by Code::blocks. It's updated often (get a good release and you'll never notice if you need another one). I just got into wxWidgets and like the wxSmith form builder it has.

  8. #8
    S Sang-drax's Avatar
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    Visual Studio Express 2008 is free and good.
    Last edited by Sang-drax : Tomorrow at 02:21 AM. Reason: Time travelling

  9. #9
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Maybe I misunderstood the op. I thought he wanted to program pic controllers. He can't do that with those compilers...
    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.

  10. #10
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    Maybe I misunderstood the op. I thought he wanted to program pic controllers. He can't do that with those compilers...
    Why not? I have never tried it myself, but isn't cross compiling possible?
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

  11. #11
    Kernel hacker
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    You can, with some hard work, get Visual Studio to work with "foreign" compilers - but it's not entirely trivial to do so, and ability to for example recognize error messages from other compilers is often a bit less than stellar.

    In some sense, it may be better to use some less integrated tools, such as Emacs or Notepad++ etc, as there is no expectation that those tools will "do things automagically", and Emacs is actually quite capable of doing the building (using make or command-line compile or even a shell-script/batch-file) and presenting the compiler output, recognizing error messages etc, and jumping to the error in the source.

    --
    Mats
    Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them!
    Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    Maybe I misunderstood the op. I thought he wanted to program pic controllers. He can't do that with those compilers...
    Hi Mario. I don't need/want an IDE/compiler for the pic controller stuff. Just programming these made me realize how much I miss C. So, I want to get back into things and just wanted to know what the latest IDE/compiler everyone has been using.

    I've downloaded Dev-C++ and Code::Blocks. I'm very familiar with Dev-C++ as I've worked with Dev-PHP. Code::Blocks is also very cool and I'll check that out more.

    But, thanks for the info on KTechLab. I've checked it out and I'm sure I'll be looking at it more.

    Thanks again everyone for your input. It's been great.

    Best,
    Brian
    Last edited by bpasternak; 02-14-2008 at 10:50 AM. Reason: Fixed typo

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