Thread: Recommendations for C IDEs on Windows?

  1. #1
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    Recommendations for C IDEs on Windows?

    In the near future I'd like to write C code on all three major systems and attempt to be as portable as possible.

    I'm having a difficult time finding a decent IDE in Windows, specifically Windows 10.

    I've been trying to use Visual Studio CE but that is a complete cluster...you know what. I really dislike how much VS shoves C++ and C# down your throat. It's annoying because in Xcode I can just create and add just regular C files to my project. If I want to, I have a dedicated C++ file button I can click on, unlike, from what I can tell, VS gives you.

    I haven't been able to, so far, get other IDEs like NetBeans and Eclipse to work either. I've downloaded and installed LLVM/Clang as well to no avail.

    I don't know, it's annoying me. I'm used to things just working and not being confusing on Xcode. It's odd that I can get NetBeans and Eclipse working just fine on Linux.

    The Git client on VS is completely screwed up too!

    I guess I've spent too much time away from Windows.

  2. #2
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    Code::Blocks
    If you download one one the "mingw" variants, it comes with a compiler already bundled and configured.
    You just install and you're ready to code.
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    I see you're fed up with Visual Studio anything. I just installed Visual Studio Code (on Linux) and while I now see it is not a complete IDE. When I googled IDE's for C pulled it up on a best 10 list for IDEs.

    It does have a debugger section within it ( that I have not tried yet), and I found that I can bring up a terminal within it for compiling my code. So it looks like it works more like Geany with a lot more features. ( but that is Linux, so you might not understand that reference.)

    I just installed this for a third editor, for when I want something to do a quick write compile run for testing without having to go through all of that setup a project stuff. SO I m checking this out, it might be worth a peek. It does look like it has some really nice features within it.

    It also looks to be free for windows too, so no worries about money loss. Besides that I side with Code::Blocks. that is what I am now using in Linux of course.
    Last edited by userxbw; 09-26-2017 at 08:31 AM.

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    CLion is not free, but it is an outstanding option for cross-platform C and C++ development.
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    What can this thing be that I found?

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    just for an update. VS Code does actually have it setup to compile, C / C++ and a bunch more different languages too.

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    I'll have to check some of that stuff out. I haven't tried Code::Blocks yet. Right now, I'm using NetBeans on Ubuntu (I have at least a decade of *nix experence. Ubuntu was just a quick and easy way to get it installed on my iMac)...I prefer the BSDs though .

    I use Xcode on my MacBook Pro though. Just had a spare computer and that turned out to be an iMac.

    I think for now, I'm going to use these computers using macOS and Ubuntu to code then jump into Windows later once I'm more experience with C.

    I did kind of go off on a rant there, didn't I? Sorry.

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    I'm still using Visual Studio Express or Desktop Express on a multi-boot system. VS2010 for Win XP / Win XP X64, VS2015 for Win 7 / Win 10. Almost all of my programs are console programs, some C, some C++, some assembly. If you create an empty project, then VS doesn't force anything on you. For assembly I use a custom build step: "ml /c /Zi /Fo$(OutDir)\example.obj example.asm" with output defined to "$(OutDir)\example.obj". /Zi is only needed for debug builds. It's ml64 for 64 bit builds. Multi-threaded debugging isn't too complicated, multi-process debugging requires attaching to secondary process(es), but with debug builds, it's still source level debugging.

    For Java I'm using NetBeans 8.1.

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    [...]
    Quote Originally Posted by ImageJPEG View Post
    I haven't been able to, so far, get other IDEs like NetBeans and Eclipse to work either. I've downloaded and installed LLVM/Clang as well to no avail.
    [...]

    Clang is a compiler not an IDE. You can use it on windows though.

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    I was just informing that I had installed a compiler and not just IDEs without one. I should have been more specific with my wording.

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    Try Qt Creator. It works well for C and C++ whether or not you use Qt. One of the packages also comes bundled with MinGW for Windows, which is pretty convenient.

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