Yes, I'm a noob. I have Dev C++ but another tutorial I want to do says to install MinGW Code::Blocks. I just want to see what that one is like, I know I can simply use Dev C++. But, is it possible to just add both to the path and use whichever one I want?
You have a misunderstanding in your question. DevC++ and Code::Blocks are IDEs, not compilers. You definitely can have more than one IDE installed at a time.
That said, the answer to your question as asked is yes, you can install multiple c++ compilers on Windows. But putting more than one in your path is likely to cause problems.
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Firstly, please forgive my ignorance regarding these matters, I have done a search and not found any comprehensive answers as of yet.
I plan on learning how to develop for Windows, however I am very fond of the GNU toolchain and don't really want to move onto using big environments like Visual Studio until I feel more comfortable with the underlying basics.
From what I understand, one can download the Windows SDK, which contains the headers and libraries needed to build native Windows applications.
Is the SDK literally just a collection of libraries and headers? If so, as my logic goes, it should be possible to point MinGW towards these libraries/headers, and simply build as normal.
When I build using Visual Studio, I can't see what preprocessor directives are being defined, what is being linked in etc. etc., as I am still learning, I like to be able to know exactly what is going on, preferably so I have to manually define, link etc. Hence the question.
So, what I want to know: is my logic correct?
Again, apologies if the question is rudimentary, I am still learning.
P.s. I am planning to develop Windows applications in a windows environment, this is not a question regarding cross-compilation.
Thanks!
MinGW is not compatible with the official Windows SDK, with one of the reasons
being that the SDK contains many VS-specific things (opposed to the GCC base
on MinGW). MinGW has adapted many of the necessary files, and for many programs
this is enough.
You don´t need to know the VS project settings for some program;
MinGW is still GCC in the core and used as such. If you can compile
programs with GCC on linux, learning how to use MinGW won´t be hard.
If you need functions/structures/etc. which are not yet part of it,
you´re out of luck, other than doing the adaption yourself, which
can be everything between very easy or very hard, depending on the case.
Additionally, proper thread usage is a bit quirky (has some "hidden" pitfalls,
which could go unnoticed in an actual program for years, but then...).
(While this is a disadvantage to VS, you´ll get C++11/14 (while VS hasn´t
even finished with 11, see link), better optimzation in many cases etc.)
If you´re choosing what exactly to download, look at WinGW-W64 instead of
the "original" old one. The original project somewhat stopped, has poor
lib support compared to W64, no 64bit compiler etc. (and don´t misunderstand
the "W64", it can be used for 32bit programs too)
I would like to start programming in OCaml. As I am a Windows user, I understand that it is preferred to do so using the OCaml plugin for Netbeans.
I have downloaded the aforementioned plugin from the following link: http://ocamlplugin.loki-a.com/ocamlplugin/updates/ . I have installed the plugin into Netbeans as instructed. I managed to open a project but even the sample "Hello World" won't run.
I then tried to install the OCaml IDE from here: http://ocamlplugin.loki-a.com/index.php?title=Main_Page#Download_2 , but it still wouldn't run anything.
I am not interested in working with Eclipse because that would include downloading Cygwin.
I would appreciate a simple solution. Thank you! :)
I would suggest OCaIDE under Eclipse, if you stick to Windows anyway.
But I don't understand your reluctancy to use cygwin, especially when there is such nice step-by-step tutorial for configuring cygwin for OcaIDE and Eclipse.
Another option, which I haven't tried but would strongly suggest you trying, is Sublime Text 2. It supports OCaml and is a very popular cross-platform text editor. But since I haven't tried it, I would not be able to provide you with details about it. Although it comes with a cost, you can evaluate it for free without time limit.
TypeRex has been my favourite for OCaml so far, and you can now use Emacs in Windows, so with some workaround in cygwin you can use TypeRex in Windows.
Another option is to use VirtualBox, install a normal linux distro and use Typerex+Emacs inside it. It is also not complicated, as it takes 1 hour to config at most.
The ocaml links that you gave have not been touched since 2009 (4 years ago). That probably means the odds of them running with the current NetBeans are equivalent to the proverbial sphere of solidified water in the Christian place of eternal theological punishment.
Since you are asking about running under Cygwin, it sounds like you want a Linux version of Eclipse as well. Eclipse runs quite well under Win7, at least, and under Mint (I use them under both) However, all my attempts to get ANY OCaml IDE running under either system have been borged (resistance is futile, and depends and capacitance anyway).
So, under Mint 15, emacs and vim (the old standards) work well as text editors. I wish I could suggest anything else.
Good luck!!!
By now, another option has appeared for Windows 10 users wanting to use OCaml: the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Basically, what it does is that it allows you to run Bash and any non-GUI Linux program on your PC. Once installed, you can install OCaml and OPAM with apt-get and you're good to go.
As far as I am concerned, I use Windows 10 on my desktop PC, and I haven't had any inconvenience with WSL yet.
I personally use Merlin/... which is are plugins for emacs. But I can understand that you dont want to use emacs. I have been told that the support with Visual Studio Code is supposed to be quite good, especially when using it together with the builtin console. Also for smaller things there is Ocamltop but I have now idea how the Windows support is. In the end I suggest, using the Linux Shell on Windows as RichouHunter suggests.
Over the last couple of months I practiced console programming with Java just with the help of JDK and a text editor of my choice (Notepad++). And I loved the simplicity as a program can be compiled from the command line plainly using javac and run using java.
Now, I'm looking for similar compiler for C/C++, such that I create a .c or .cpp file and compile it in the command prompt, and all it does is create a "native" executable that can be run directly from the command prompt. Thus, without any need of bloated IDE. The reason I'm looking for such simple compiler is because it is going to be used by high-school students so I'm advised to avoid any IDE as far as possible, so students can practice all the concepts of C/C++ languages without having to go for IDE. Which compiler can I use that does this job? also, I must work across all the versions Windows starting from Windows XP.
You can download MinGW which is basically GCC for windows.
Then you can simply gcc somefile.c to create an executable.
http://gcc.gnu.org/gcc is a multi platform c/c++ compiler
Visual Studio includes the ability to compile from the command line. Like others just said you can look at cygwin/MinGW. I would recommended using Code::Blocks or Dev-C++. I know you stated you do not want an IDE, but I would highly suggest a minimalist IDE like the ones I just suggested, or at least SciTE or Notepad++ to get some basic syntax highlighting with the ability to configure build tools if you want as well.
MinGW GCC is definitely the way go, but I would recomend the nuwen.net distro (http://nuwen.net/mingw.html). Haven't used it in a while (yay unix!), but if IIRC, it comes with everything ready to go after unpacking. The official distribution is ... very hard to get working.
A very simple solution woul be cygwin and MinGW, which provides an environment very similar to a UNIX shell. Then you can use the make utilities to compile your program.
You should certainly consider using MinGW GCC, but not by download from the MiNGW web page, unless you are some kind of masochist. Get the one packaged by Twilight Dragon Media at http://tdm-gcc.tdragon.net.
I too use VisualStudio on Windows from the command prompt and use VS Make files as well. That way, I can smb mount my source code from a different machine and perform compiles on several different platforms at once (e.g. Windows, Linux, Solarsi).
I haven't done much coding in C++, but I? noticed that I have to run these build scripts for everything. HOw do people do these on windows machines? I am thinking about running a virtual machine anyway, so I don't have to fill my machine with python and other such installations.
How does everyone else on windows do it?
There's always cygwin if you want to run the standard UNIX type tools, such as make, etc.
MinGw comes with a gcc-compatible Compiler and Make System. So if you want to use makefiles, this is a possible way. If you need an IDE, Eclipse CDT might be for you.
However, I prefer Visual Studio, mainly for personal reasons (experience gathered over years) and debugging seemed to work somewhat better.
You might also want to look at CMake for a platform independet build tool.
AFAIK you can simply get the python executable and put them somewhere where the scripts can access them, inside your project code. That way you don't have to install it in the system and you don't have to use a virtual machine either.
This question already has answers here:
C++ cross-compiler from Windows to Linux [closed]
(5 answers)
Closed 9 years ago.
I need to write a relatively simple command line C++ program to be run a Linux environment. However, I would like to code as well as compile this on Windows. The reason I don't want to port it to Linux is because it requires MySQL interactions, and that would require some messy porting (IMO). It does not have to run on Windows; I just want to compile it on Windows because I want to use my preferred IDE's.
I've looked up on Cygwin for this task, but I haven't been able to find any documentation to do what I'm trying to do.
(I'm assuming "..don't want to port it to Linux.." is a typo for "..from Linux" and that you want the code to run in Linux as you said in your first sentence. This means cygwin or mingw would only be used as cross compilers and aren't going to be very useful.)
This program already builds and works (or mostly works) on Linux, right? No reason to change that. Use your preferred editor (probably the one in your IDE) to edit the files and then just run the build system (probably make) in a Linux system (possibly in a VM). Export the files using a samba share (especially easy from a VM) so you can edit and automatically save remotely.
Note that you seem fine ditching every other feature of your IDE (debugger and compiler, mainly) and just using the editor part anyway.
Ah, are you not starting from any existing project and want to write this from scratch? If so, porting doesn't make any sense. You want to write cross-platform code. (Cross-platform or "portable code" being related to, but different than, the act of "porting code" from one platform to another.)
The code is then both "Windows code" and "Linux code" at the same time, and you can use any compiler on Windows that can accept the code. Usually this happens by you sticking to standard libraries and other portable libraries, or writing shims for non-portable libraries to give them a portable interface, with the compiler supporting the C++ Standard.
You can use your preferred IDE's compiler and debugger in this case, and don't need cygwin or mingw. (Unless they're used by your preferred IDE. :P)
MinGW + MSYS
MinGW provides the functionality, MSYS gives a linux-like command prompt to use MinGW at.
When you get cygwin, install the C++ compiler/build tools, e.g., gcc, g++, make, autotools, etc. I think these are all you need, but I may be wrong. In any case the Cygwin installer is easy to use, and should bring in any dependencies.
Once you have these setup, you can configure your IDE to use g++ as your default compiler. You also need to set your library and include paths correctly such that they point to the relative /usr/include and /usr/lib directories under $CYGWIN (%CYGWIN%).
(Your other option is to use MinGW set of tools, in which case the IDE setup is more or less the same.)
Install cygwin (tutorial) and you'll have an EXE that gives you the command line prompt you're looking for.
The Cygwin installer should have an option for installing whatever compiler you're looking for (gcc?).
Here's another relevant tutorial.