Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.
We don’t allow questions seeking recommendations for books, tools, software libraries, and more. You can edit the question so it can be answered with facts and citations.
Closed 5 years ago.
Improve this question
I've been coding C/C++ in a Linux environment, and that has been a breeze (Open terminal > Vim > code > gcc > done). I'm trying to get into doing the same in Windows, and it hasn't been nearly as easy. I've gotten Vim to run out of terminal, as I do not like IDEs, thus I'm looking for a Windows compiler that I can work with via command-line.
My problem is that I can't find the official Windows compiler for C/C++, Microsoft support was useless, and MSDN keeps pointing me to Visual Studio. There are a plethora of questions here on SO, and the web about compilers for C/C++ on Windows, with suggestions like Dev-C++, but that comes with GCC. Visual Studio supports C/C++, and I would assume that compiler is the official one, but I've had no luck in finding just the compiler. The closest I've gotten is either the Windows SDK or Visual Studio Express 2015.
Additionally, I was told in the Stackoverflow C chat room, that C is no longer a subset of C++, so does that mean I need to find 2 compilers, one for C and one for C++?
I'm also trying to figure out where C/C++ libraries are. On Linux, they're already there. Is that the case with Windows, if not where do I find their C/C++ libraries?
I didn't expect it to be so difficult to get started, nor did I expect to get lost so quickly.
Interestingly enough, I found an answer to the OP's question which I believe warrants a post rather than a comment.
Microsoft does provide a stand-alone Visual C++ compiler in what they call 'build-tools'. You can get one here:
https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2017-rc
(Look for Build Tools at the bottom of the page)
First of all there is no "official" compiler for Windows; the fact that Microsoft produce both development tools and operating-systems is a historical coincidence I won't do into. There would be all sorts of anti-trust issues if they tried you to force you to use only their tools. There is an official Windows SDK; and that is only available with Microsoft tools; but that too is not a barrier to Windows API development using other tools.
Visual Studio is the name of Microsoft's IDE that supports a number of development tools and languages. The C++ compiler component of Visual Studio also supports C compilation (in common with more-or-less all C++ toolchains - that's why you often see the much hated on SO term C/C++ - because most often the toolchain is a C and C++ toolchain - not because there is a language of that name). The fact that C is no longer an exact subset of C++ is not really an issue.
All compilers, regardless of whether or not they come embedded in some IDE have a command line interface. Microsoft fully document theirs, so I am not sure why you could not find it: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f35ctcxw.aspx.
To get Microsoft's tools you have to install one edition or another of Visual Studio, but you do not need to use Visual Studio to drive the compiler. However perhaps the most compelling reason to use Visual Studio is its debugger - by far the best debugger available for any platform (IMO). There is a command-line debugger CDB, but unless you love whipping yourself with birch twigs or using GDB (much the same thing), then you'll hate it.
Microsoft have long concentrated on C++, and for a long time C was left at the ISO C90 level of compliance; this has changed somewhat in more recent releases and while 2015 is improved, you would do better to use Visual Studio 2017. There is no longer an express edition of Visual Studio, it has been replaced with the "Community Edition" with slightly less permissive licensing. https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/
All that said, you do not have to use Microsoft's compiler to write Windows applications in C. MinGW (http://www.mingw.org/) is a native Windows GCC based toolchain that instead of using the POSIX dependent GNU C library, uses Microsoft's C runtime (via the DLL's included with Windows), and includes the necessary header files and export libraries to access the Windows API DLLs too. Since Microsoft no longer licence the official Windows SDK (and the open-source MinGW could hardly use it in any case), the MinGW Windows SDK headers used to lag somewhat, but since Microsoft have more-or-less abandoned the Windows C API in favour of .NET, the API is more or less fossilised.
The advantage of MinGW is that it is the same GNU toolchain you are used to, and includes all expected GNU utilities such as make, gdb and binutils. It even includes a bash-like shell MSYS (which you do not have to use, but makes porting, configuring and building some open-source projects easier).
Like Visual Studio, Dev-C++ is not a compiler or toolchain. It is an IDE. It typically uses MinGW as its toolchain. The same goes for Code::Blocks for example.
One issue with using the command line in Windows for development is that it is not as complete or fully functional a shell as say bash for example. You may get frustrated with it is you are a bask power-user.
The compiler is included with Visual Studio. It is called "cl" and can be run from the command line. See these links for instructions:
Walkthrough: Compiling a Native C++ Program on the Command Line
Walkthrough: Compile a C program on the command line
They basically amount to "Open terminal > notepad > code > cl > done". Not as hard as you're making it out to be. I believe the instructions in those links also apply to the stand-alone build tools mentioned by the other answer.
There are better editors than notepad, and alternative compilers, but the question wasn't about editors, and cl is as close to an "official" compiler as you're going to get, so we won't get into that here.
Related
I would like to be able to compile C and C++ code under the Windows environment without using an IDE, just by using the Windows Command prompt (cmd.exe).
I come from Linux, where you are be able to install the gcc package with just a command in the terminal:
$ sudo apt install gcc
I wonder if there is a C/C++ compiler collection in a package inside the Windows install folders, just like the ones in Linux, I just need to install.
What also gives me a reason to ask this question is:
Since the kernel of Windows and the Windows API are written in C, and many of the high-level applications of the actual Windows 10 release are written in C++, it would be reasonable to also directly provide a suitable compiler suite. This is my thought modell, does not need to match reality.
Thanks for your help.
Since the kernel of Windows and the Windows API are written in C
Microsoft doesn't ship a compiler, or the required Windows SDK headers/libs (also includes a bunch of other useful development tools) for Windows in the installation.
Microsoft Visual C++ (part of Visual Studio) would be the equivalent "built in" choice although I am not sure if Microsoft ever specify exactly which version they use for a given Windows build and it is common to have lots of software built with different compilers/versions (including the various non-Microsoft ones).
As well as the full Visual Studio package with the IDE and other tools. Microsoft provide some components separately, such as the Build Tools for Visual Studio 2019.
I am sure this is for many reasons like most users not being interested in compiling their own software, and Microsoft still sells Visual Studio separately to larger organisations (historically to most serious users, but "Community" edition is now pretty nonrestrictive for individuals and small business).
Strangely enough it doesn't come with a C compiler, we need to install one, Mingw-w64 is allways my choice, you will need to add the path in environment variables (step 12), if you want to use it anywhere. You can then use the gcc command where it's more convenient like in Linux, don't forget to open a new cmd after the changes for them to take effect.
Unfortunately, Windows doesn't have the command line tools for installing/removing stuff and the great repository infrastructure we know and love from Linux.
You will need two things:
The command-line build tools. These can be found on the Visual Studio Downloads page under Tools for Visual Studio -> Build Tools for Visual Studio. This will include the compiler (cl.exe) and linker (link.exe) for the MSVC build toolchain.
The Windows SDK. The latest version of the SDK can currently be found here. This page has a tendency to move around, but googling for Windows SDK usually gives you the right page immediately. The SDK contains all the headers and libraries required to build Windows applications and make use of the Windows native API. The Windows SDK contains a lot of stuff which you may or may not need. You will almost certainly want to install the Windows SDK for Desktop C++ x86 Apps and Windows SDK for Desktop C++ amd64 Apps components. Most of the other stuff should be optional, but some of it is nonetheless highly useful.
You may want to download additional packages such as the Windows Debugger (which is an entirely different application than the Visual Studio debugger) or the Driver SDK, depending on what kind of things you want to develop.
Note that even if you don't intend to use the IDE in the end, installing the full Community Edition of Visual Studio is a far more convenient way to get a working build environment, so unless you have a really good reason not to, just go with the full package and choose to never open the IDE.
The built in compilers available on Windows 10 are for VisualBasic, C#, JScript.
To improve speed & performance of apps, "ngen.exe creates native images, which are files containing compiled processor-specific machine code, and installs them into the native image cache on the local computer. The runtime can use native images from the cache instead of using the just-in-time (JIT) compiler to compile the original assembly".
For low level programmers, ilasm.exe (IL Assembler) ships with Windows, which also facilitates "tool and compiler" development; so you could even create your own language or build a better compiler for a current one, or "debug your code at low level and understand how .NET deals with your high level code", or "write your own compiler for a new .NET language."
For web programmers, AspNetCompiler precompiles server-side ASP.NET web-applications, therefore helps application performance because end users do not encounter a delay on the first request to the application.
All Compilers & assemblers come as builtin with Windows without IDE and can be run from "the Windows Command prompt (cmd.exe)", so no extra downloads necessary; located in folder: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\vx.x.xxxxx\ .
Note: C# is based on JScript.
Compilers:
vbc.exe
csc.exe
jsc.exe
ilasm.exe
ngen.exe
aspnet_compiler.exe
Addendum:
If you still are looking for a C compiler to handle some C source codes you already have spent your life on, then (without downloading) you can make/write a C compiler, in a high level language, then optimize it with a low level language.
This guide will "introduce you to the high-level architecture, theory, and .NET Framework APIs that are required to build your own .NET compiler" in C#.
You can to use gcc for windows. For e.g. mingw, tdm-gcc, mingw-68, Cygwin etc. Each of them allows you to work on c/c++. But if you are not sure about the installation process, and don't want to do all the work by yourself, the easiest solution is to download something like dev-c++ or code-blocks.
cygwin: https://cygwin.com/
mingw-64: http://mingw-w64.org/doku.php
Downloadable file can be found here (for mingw, dev-c++): https://sourceforge.net/
You can also install Microsoft compiler. I usually do it by installing the whole visual studio.
Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.
Questions asking us to recommend or find a tool, library or favorite off-site resource are off-topic for Stack Overflow as they tend to attract opinionated answers and spam. Instead, describe the problem and what has been done so far to solve it.
Closed 9 years ago.
Improve this question
I've learned C and C++ in Borland's Turbo C++ IDE, the 16-Bit version with that old blue screen background, in which I started off building console programs for Windows. Now that Windows Vista and 7 doesn't support that IDE to be run in full-screen mode, I'm looking for such similar IDE (not necessarily from Borland), that comes with GCC, and doesn't need much learning to use if one has already worked with Turbo C. So is there any free GCC IDE that works with Windows 7? I'll not be using it for developing Windows applications, since I need it to practice on data structure console programs.
Turbo C++ is very old, and the concepts and philosophies of IDE design as (as well as the language C++ compilers are compiling) have developed much further since.
You might try Code::Blocks or Eclipse, but I wouldn't expect a transition as smooth as going to the next version of Turbo C++. (Which weren't as smooth either, BTW. The latest of that series, BCC 5.0 was quite different to the old DOS TC environments, and even that got abandoned later in favor of the very different C++ Builder IDE.)
BTW, does it have to be GCC? Visual C++ Express is free also, the VC compiler isn't worse than GCC, and the IDE is quite good.
There are a few C++ IDEs with many features.
Bloodshed Dev C++
NetBeans C
C++ IDE
Eclipse CDT
CodeBlocks
Also take a look at Cygwin which provides a linux like environment for Windows. If you are making console applications, using a good shell won't hurt.
An open source IDE that runs on Windows that should get more mention than it currently does is QtCreator. While it's tailored to working with the Qt framework, it works just fine for non-Qt-based C++ work (though you won't get much help in the form of UI wizards unless you're using Qt for the UI).
It's much lighter than Eclipse/CDT and I find it easier to use (though I normally use Visual Studio over either QtCreator or Eclipse/CDT).
General information/marketing for QtCreator: http://qt.nokia.com/products/developer-tools/developer-tools
Nokia provides a Windows package that includes the MinGW GCC compiler. Go to the download page and select the "Qt Creator 2.1 Binary for Windows" link (I have no idea why Nokia doesn't link to the download from the info page): http://qt.nokia.com/downloads
Of course if you just want a free C++ IDE for Windows, and don't really care if it's GCC or MSVC based, I'd suggest getting VC++ Express: http://www.microsoft.com/express/Windows/
If you're looking for a beer-free IDE, just download Visual Studio Express from Microsoft - it's not gcc behind the covers but it is tuned very well for Windows.
If you're after a speech-free one, Code::Blocks is the best I've ever seen. The larger setup package for Windows includes the backing gcc compiler and gdb debugger.
You can use codeblocks: http://www.codeblocks.org/
It is not a console IDE but you can build console programs and watch the output in a window.
The best solution if you are using windows is CODEBLOCKS-EP(Education Portal).
You can find it at http://codeblocks.codecutter.org/
Once you find it, I would personally recommend the "Zip (CodeBlocks-EP.zip)" file download.
Hope this helps.
Happy Coding
I can suggest you Eclipse ID with CDT (you can download bundle from http://eclipse.org) + MinGW compiler tool. Or You can use the Code::Blocks IDE.
I like Bloodshed Dev-C++, but I don't know if it runs on W7.
I suggest using CodeLite opensource cross platform IDE for the C/C++ programming languages:
It works great on almost all Operating Systems
Windows XP/7 and 8
Debian / Ubuntu
Fedora / OpenSUSE
Mac OSX 10.5.8
http://codelite.org/
To quote the FAQ, 'No question is [...] too "newbie"'
What is the best way to set up an Windows system (vista, if that matters) to work with C++?
Preferably with a nice IDE, easy compiling of software (support for make files, etc.), but suitable for a beginner.
I would quite like the IDE to use a relatively portable format, such as makefiles and configure scripts, nothing too proprietary.
I would also like the ability to add new libraries etc. without much hassle, and work with the majority of C++ code others have written.
I am comfortable using the command line.
Thanks for the help, hopefully the question is clear. And apologies if it's already been answered, i did have a look for similar questions.
I know this is not exactly 'nothing to proprietary' but you should give a look at the free Express Edition of Visual C++. Under its covers you'll get all the familiar make and command line tools, but wrapped in a polished IDE.
If you're really comfortable with the command line then you can make an IDE from code editor on top of a compiler/debugger suite. MS's own command line tools come with the platform SDK (free) and you get an awesome debugger in Windbg. My personal favorite code editor is Code Insight. I wish so hard for a Mac version /sigh.
Microsoft's Visual Studio has a free express edition which contains pretty much everything you need to program c++.
For a Gui, the main choices are probably, MFC (old and ugly), CLR/.Net (new and confusing) or look at Qt(now LGPL) or wxWigets
There are quite a few good IDEs for C++ available on Windows.
The de-facto standard for professional software development is Microsoft's Visual Studio, which is available in different versions, like the free Express Editions. This will give you a great tool-chain for Windows development.
However, for a more "cross-platform" approach, you should have a look to the free Eclipse C++ Development Tooling, which is available for many platforms. As long as your own code is platform-independent, the whole project can be shared between Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.
Other alternatives are MinGW or CygWin that both allow to use the GCC toolchain on Windows.
Try the MinGW compiler, it will come with a C and C++ compiler, Make, etc--among many others. This can be used from the command line, pretty easily: g++ -o someprogram.exe somecode.cpp
As for an IDE, there are lots out there. Right now I am using Code::Blocks, and so far it's been really nice. As well, it already supports the GCC compiler, and sets many of the appropriate flags for you, so all you'll really need to do is hit the "build" button.
Some others you might want to try are Eclipse, which is really powerful, but lots of its "power" will be really confusing and difficult to use until you start getting used to it. Visual C++ is another one, which (obviously) would integrate very nicely into Windows. Of course, you could always use emacs :)
I suggest you evaluate CodeBlocks.
Microsoft's Visual Studio is powerful but rather proprietary. If you prefer open/portable stuff, I recommend Dev-C++ and Cygwin.
FWIW, I recently went through this and tried the VC++ Express and QT Creator based stuff. Coming from a linux/unix background I found that QT was a little better since it was using the Ming compilers and some make based constructs.
If you will only be hacking for windows I would go for Visual Studio. It will definitely save you time you can spend on coding instead. Most open source out there for windows either already have VC project, and if they don't it is usually very simple to set one up. And normally they have either make or nmake files for you to build VC compatible libararies to link with.
Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.
We don’t allow questions seeking recommendations for books, tools, software libraries, and more. You can edit the question so it can be answered with facts and citations.
Closed 4 years ago.
Improve this question
I'm aspiring to work in real-time 3D graphics. I work almost exclusively in C++, with a healthy smattering of win32. Realistically, do I have any sane alternatives?
You can use the MSVC compiler without the IDE. That's probably your best bet. It's a good compiler, and it is the de facto standard for Windows development.
There is definitely nothing wrong with ditching the IDE and simply using the compiler.
I believe the MSVC compiler can be used from the Code::Blocks IDE with no problems.
Alternatively, invoking the compiler from the command-line is a tried and true approach too.
Eclipse: http://www.eclipse.org/
Code::Blocks is pretty cool: http://www.codeblocks.org/
Depends...
Cygwin/Mingwin gives you a compiler. Qt or wxWidgets gives you a GUI toolkit that's easy to use and both are portable.
I agree with the question though. Visual Studio is a pig. Its debugger is pretty nice, but the rest is a pig to work with (particularly coming from a OSS background where the tools don't generally try to lock you in).
You could also look at nmake and calling the VC++ compiler tools directly from the command line.
We use VC++ as a compiler / linker but use Jam to drive the builds. The actual Visual Studio is only used as a debugger. The benefit is that once we set up Jam to build a project in Windows, it takes minimal effort (frequently none) to get it working for Unix.
The Zeus IDE works just fine as a MSVC alternative. It can even import MSVC project and solution files.
A bit late to the party, but I'd like to add that in 2018 there finally begins to show up a viable alternative that is good enough to promise emancipation from the monopoly of VS on Windows C++ development:
Sublime Text as editor, with the following plugins:
EasyClangComplete, a decent (like, just working) replacement for Intellisense;
[optionally] Clang Format, for much more flexible source formatting experience than MS would ever come up with;
Clang-cl as a wrapper around Clang compiler aimed for maximum MSVC compatibility.
Unfortunately, Microsoft Build Tools are still needed for standard library headers, but the download size is nothing compared to the whole VS behemoth. The upside is that Clang-cl picks them up automagically and Build Tools somehow don't mandate that you let their executables go online to sign in and activate your free license yet!
Setting this all up to a working configuration is a bit more complicated than slapping together a VS project/solution, but it's totally worth it. As a bonus, setting things up manually might give you a better understanding of what goes on under the hood of an IDE.
One thing to miss might be the superb VS debugger... Well, if you're ready to break habits, the open source x64dbg might come to the rescue, ability to view and step through source code via .pdb files included (and yes, Clang can generate them now!).
Update: As of 2019, a much better and future-proof alternative to EasyClangComplete is using Clangd via LSP plugin.
Absolutely, but it's just a lot easier to use Microsoft's IDE to develop for a Microsoft operating system. When in Rome...
Eclipse is a good alternative.
The Code::Blocks IDE comes with the MinGW C++ compiler and support for wxWidgits. The IDE is pretty minimalist which may or may not be what you are looking for - I really like it.
Dev-C++ I have found very useful, and free :)
Very possible, Qt is your friend. Qt Creator is in RC stage too so something to look forward to. Until then you can use it with something like Code::Blocks. Code::Blocks itself is a great environment alone, and also has a lot of support for wxWidgets. If you're just looking for an IDE change, as previously mentioned, Code::Blocks can use compilers from other IDE's as well.
-John
SlickEdit (or a number of other editors that support ctags or something similar) makes for a pretty decent 'IDE'.
You can use these editors with makefiles (or other build tools) to drive pretty much whatever compiler you want (MVCS, mingw, Comeau, Digital Mars, whatever).
A couple employers ago, that's exactly what we did. We used MS compilers driven by makefiles and the main editor used was SlickEdit. We used the Debugging Tools for Windows package for debugging (a lot of what we did was kernel-mode). Worked out pretty well.
Wascana Desktop Developer is a distribution of Eclipse CDT configured specifically for developing on Windows.
I would recommend giving Notepad++, MSBuild, and the Windows SDK a look over. You could also use XBuild, but that is more MONO specific. Mind you, MSBuild, and XBuild are just automation tools, so you'd be spending more time with Windows SDK.
I'm sure to receive a lot of flak for this, but I find C++Builder to be a much easier IDE/compiler to develop Windows C++ apps with than MSVC. It may not be the cheapest solution, or have all the same bells+whistles, or be the most language-compliant (its 32bit compiler does not support C++11 yet, but its 64bit compiler does), but you can't really beat its visual UI designer and 3rd party component market.
Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.
We don’t allow questions seeking recommendations for books, tools, software libraries, and more. You can edit the question so it can be answered with facts and citations.
Closed 7 years ago.
Improve this question
I'm trying to learn C. As a C# developer, my IDE is Visual Studio. I've heard this is a good environment for C/C++ development. However, it seems no matter what little thing I try to do, intuition fails me. Can someone give good resources for how to either:
learn the ins and out of C in Visual Studio
recommend a better C IDE + compiler
Edit: See also: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/951516/a-good-c-ide
well you can use visual studio just fine take a look at here man
http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread16256.html
Go to View Menu select Solution Explorer or CTRL+ ALT +L
Then Select The project that your are developing and right click on that.
Then select the Properties from the submenu.
Then select the Configuration properties from the Tree structure. under that select C/C++ then select Advanced. Now in the right side pane change the property
Compile As from Compile as C++ Code (/TP) to Compile as C Code (/TC)
Finally change your file extensions to .c
Now you configured you Visual Studio to compile C programs
And you can use NetBeans too it could even be more user friendly than Visual Studio download it you wont regret i promise
The problem with learning C within Visual Studio is that you are compiling C using the Visual Studio C++ compiler. You might want to try learning C using the GNU GCC compiler from within the Cygwin environment in Windows.
Answering the purely subject question "recommend me a better C IDE and compiler" I find Ming32w and Code::blocks (now with combined installer) very useful on windows but YMMV as you are obviously used to the MS IDE and are just struggling with C.
May I suggest you concentrate on console applications to get a feel for the language first before you attempt to tie it together with a windows UI which in my experience is the hardest bit of windows development.
Simple and sweet: Console applications (basic C programs using printf and such) are easily and cheaply done with the Tiny C Compiler - a no frills, no gui, complete C complier.
http://bellard.org/tcc/
However, C development is relatively simple on Visual Studio as well. The following instructions will set Visual C++ up as a good C compiler, and it will produce console applications at first, and yo can move up into more complex windows apps as you go.
Get the Visual Studio C++ edition (express is fine)
Start a new project - disable pre-compiled headers (maybe the wizard will let you do this, maybe you'll have to change the compiler settings once inside the project)
Delete everything inside the project.
Create a new "example.c" file with the hello world example
Compile and away you go.
Alternately, get a linux virtual machine, or Cygwin. But as you already have Visual Studio, you might as well stick with what you know.
As an aside, this isn't Atwood learning C finally, is it? No ALTs! ;-D
-Adam
Bloodshed Dev-C++ is the best windows C/C++ IDE IMO: http://www.bloodshed.net/
It uses the GNU compiler set and is free as in beer.
EDIT: the download page for the IDE is here: http://www.bloodshed.net/dev/devcpp.html
As already said, you should check out the VS.net C++ edition, but if you'd like to try something else Eclipse has a C++ edition. You can get more info from http://eclipse.org or check out the distro at http://www.easyeclipse.org/site/distributions/cplusplus.html
The problem with learning C within Visual Studio is that you are compiling C
using the Visual Studio C++ compiler. You might want to try learning C using
the GNU GCC compiler from within the Cygwin environment in Windows.
This is a legitimate response, I posted an IDE that uses the GNU compilers, so why has he been down modded?
This is the type of thing that will make me not use SO, why down mod someone just because they are recommending a different compiler, and IMHO, a better one then Microsoft's?
get real people, and #Antonio Haley I gave you +1
http://xoax.net/comp/cpp/console/Lesson0.php
Any use?
Some people say that a smaller IDE is better for learning. Take a look at Code::Blocks. It's generally true that beginning C in an IDE is hard because not many books explain enough to control the IDE. Perhaps starting in a console and a basic text editor with syntax highlighting would be better – at least under Linux. Since Windows' console is far from great, I'd not recommend using it.
/EDIT: Dev-C++ used to be the best freely available IDE for Windows. However, it's development has been discontinued years ago and the most recent version unfortunately is full of bugs.
There's a very good reason to learn C and C++. The reason is that there's a lot of C and C++ code out there that are performing very real and important tasks. Someone who considers themselves a programmer and a learner(doubtful that you can separate the two) can learn a lot from these lines of code.
You can learn a lot from each language by studying the other, but if you really want to grok C it's a lot easier to separate yourself from anything C++ for a while. Visual C++ is great but GCC is a great way to thrust yourself into vanilla ANSI C without having to mentally sidestep any C++.
#mmattax thanks!
C in Visual Studio is fine, just use the command line compiler that is included in the Pro edition. Yes its the C++ compiler but treats all files ending .c as C . You can even force it to treat ALL files as C with a switch. The VS documentation has entries on it, just search the index for Visual C.
Visual Studio is one of the best IDEs for C/C++.
I don't think it is complicated and hard to use - if you have questions about it - ask them.
Some other compilers/IDEs are fine too, but if already have Visual Studio and have used it - why not stick to it?
For plain C, I suggest Pelles C. Generates optimized code and supports C99 constructs.
Features:
Support for 32-bit Windows (X86),
64-bit Windows (X64), and Windows Mobile (ARM). Support for the C99 standard.
Integrated source code editor with call tips and symbol browsing. Integrated source-level
debugger. Project management.
Inline assembler for X86 and ARM.
Integrated resource editor. Integrated bitmap, icon and cursor editor. Integrated
animated cursor and video editor.
Integrated hex-dump editor.
Supportfor custom controls in the dialog editor. Support for custom project wizards.
http://www.smorgasbordet.com/pellesc/
When i used visual studio 5.0 it should compile c code as long as the header files and lib. are there for the compiler to find. In fact most C++ compilers like G++ will compile C code just fine. But i'm not sure how well.. If you are targeting a platform then you can change the header files and lib. within you IDE and Compiler.
Visual Studio has a great debugger that no other Compiler that i have seen can compete with. I have been using gcc darwin10 4.2.1 and find the debugger is basically just the one you can getfree with any linux flavor. I recommend you learn both on a plain vanilla gcc compiler and also try visual studio which costs money. The express edition does not allow the use of threading and several other things that I forgot about. Visual Studio 5.0 should be ok to use and the debugger is much more human friendly then the one commandline version called GDB. Try DDD on linux which is similar to XCODE's debugger.
Although C++ and C are different you can compile both together. But you should understand each ones flaws and good points. C code is faster, but C++ is much easier to write and manage larger code. C++ is object oriented but C is procedural while they are both imperative languages. I would suggest learning objective-C since you can use both C++ and C libraries. Using the features you like in all three languages!!!
Visual Studio or Express do consider .c files as C code, but the compiler will keep giving warnings, and irritating suggestions which you do not require, in the debugger. Gives an indication that Visual C++, as the name suggests is optimized for C++ development for the Windows Operating system, which was originally written in plain pure C.