I'm a third year computer science student. I was raised on Visual C++ and have gotten quite proficient at using it. My school however, teaches primarily on Linux platforms. Up until now I have just programmed and debugged in Visual studio, then when I was certain I got everything working, I would recompile the source in Linux to make sure it work there.
Now however now my projects require use of the Unix API calls, Berkly sockets and sometimes pthreads.
Are there libraries available that give me access to the Unix API on windows? If so how would i go about using them Visual C++ 2010?
I really don't want to have devolve to using Gedit and Gdb for debugging complex(for me at least) code.
Typically, you would just use the platform-independent equivalents found in various libraries- usually Boost. However, if you must use the Unix-specific APIs, the only way to go will be to wrap their functionality for Windows. Likely, there already exist libraries that serve this purpose, much as you can use WINE and such for Unix, but as a Windows programmer myself I wouldn't really know.
You could try something like Cygwin to provide the Unix API in Windows, build and compile there, then make any minor adjustments to use the native API when you transfer to Linux.
You can also check each library to see if a Windows version is available. If no Win version is listed on the lib's site, Google around and see if someone has built it for Windows; that may provide you a usable version.
If you don't specifically need the Unix API, Boost or another cross-platform library is probably your best bet to provide the needed functions.
For non-Windows development, finding a replacement to VS is probably a good idea (unfortunately there's really no IDE that can compare, IMO). Code::Blocks is the nearest, but is still missing a lot of features. KDevelop has been recommended to me several times, seems nice at first glance. Eclipse is maybe the only IDE slower than VS2010, something to consider before using it.
Most Unix-only APIs aren't available for Windows. I suggest you switch to Code::blocks, which is cross-platform. It is pretty similar to VC++ in many ways, and it's easy to get used to it.
Either switch to Code::blocks, or switch to Eclipse - both of which are multi-platform. I can attest that Eclipse 3.6 works awesome debugging C++ Qt apps on Linux and Windows.
I know this is late, but a good answer is never too late! Hopefully mine is one.
The only thing I can think of is use the preprocessor.
#ifdef __unix__
...UNIX code here
#endif
and write the UNIX code in the block so that you can compile it on the UNIX system required. Then, outside those blocks you could use the WIN32 analogs inside a similar block
#ifdef _WIN32
...Windows code here
#endif
Such that an end result may look like
//Cross platform includes
//cross platform namespaces
#ifdef _WIN32
//Windows includes
//Windows namespaces
#else
//unix includes
//unix namespaces
#endif
int main()
{
DoCrossPlatformFunctions();
#ifdef _WIN32
DoWindowsFunctions();
#else
DoUnixFunctions();
#endif
DoMoreXplatformStuff();
return 0;
}
You could do some short research and find the analogs to the functions you require fairly easily and then be on your way. It's a bit cumbersome, but since you seem to have a vendetta against just writing it in a UNIX VM in the first place it's probably the best option. The best part is you don't have to step outside your Visual C++ comfort zone to do it. I hope this helps!!
Related
I want to learn C++ and I want to know if using Microsoft VC++ will tie me to Windows. I specially need my project to also run on Mac. My projects are all Class libraries and have no dependency to UI. They are just calculations or file/network IO.
I really like working in Visual Studio and Microsoft way overall. So my priority is to go VC++ unless it makes painful to build cross platform apps for Windows and Mac. I mean at the compiler, libraries and language level. I don't want my parallel app to fall apart on certain platforms.
I personnaly use Visual Studio to build my code on Windows and other compilers to build the same code on other platforms (Mac, Linux, Android...).
To be sure you don't get locked with Windows, make sure (at least, it's not exhaustive):
You don't use any win32 API (prefer cross plateforme libraries like boost for instance for network, file system access...)
You don't use 3rd party libraries only available for Windows
Don't use CString, or anyother Microsoft class. Prefer STL.
Be careful with file system case sensitiveness too! (#include "Foo.h" while file is "foo.h" on disk will work on PC, not under Mac/Linux). Prefer naming ALL your files in lower case.
...
You may want to have a look at CMake. This tool can help you generating compilation project file for the same source to be compiled on different plateform. Then, you can generate vcproj/sln files to compile your code with Visual Studio on Windows, MakeFile(s) to compile it under Linux and XCode project files to compile it under MacOS. If somewone wants to compile you code under Windows with another compiler than Microsoft, it's also possible!
Also note that recent version of VS (2015) propose to compile for other targets that Windows (at least Android). But never tried that.
The compiler itself is pretty standard confroming by know (if you turn off the extensions) and more importantly, you can use the clang frontend (which is the default compiler on Mac) directly from within VS2015, so it is definitvely possible to write cross-platform code in VS (although it's certainly easier to use Windows specific constructs than it where if you'd use e.g. cygwin).
However, the windows API for network I/O is different from the one for Mac, so you should probably use a corssplatform library like boost asio for that.
As far as multithreading is concerned, you can do it in a standard and portable manner using the standard library's functions, classes and synchronization primitives, but the past has shown that they are often not the most efficient way to go. However, in most situations you'll want to use a more highlevel library for parallel programming anyway. The default on Windows is the PPL which is - I believe - not cross-platform, but there are other libraries you can use
Finally, you can use VS to remotely build your applications on Mac or Linux PCs using their local compilers and libraries. However, I don'T know, how well that works in practice.
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 am writing a QT/C++ program, that i don't want to have dependecies on a specific OS (at least keep them to a minimum with some preprocessor directives).
i'm using QT Creator to design my program, which is done mainly on my Linux box, and every now and then, pull the code on the windows machine and attempt to compile it to make sure it still compiles.
to the point now, i need to use the functions inet_pton and inet_ntop, but they seem to be part of the GNU C Library. I looked around, and read that some MS libraries have them as well, though i'm no expert in MS development.
my question, is there an easy way to use these functions in my program? or am i better off checking out their code in glibc, and implementing them myself? or can you recommend some other alternative?
thanks in advance
inet_pton/etc is only available on Vista and above. If you need to run on WinXP you can use WSAStringToAddress().
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.
Currently I`m using Visual Studio for writing code in C++. But it seems so weighty that I decided to switch for another one, preferably free, not so strict to system resources (I mean memory, of course) as VS to learn libraries, such as Boost and Qt. What compiler do you suggest?
I'd suggest using Visual Studio's compiler from the command-line. You get the same high-quality compiler, without the resource-hogging IDE.
Although the IDE is pretty good too, and probably worth the resources it uses.
Code::blocks is exactly what you are after. You can can download it here: http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/5
Choose the version with the mingw compiler bundled with it (Windows port of GCC). You can switch between that and the VC++ compiler as and when you like.
Code::Blocks has all the stuff you want, debugger integration, code completion, class browser, todo list etc. etc. It even import visual C++ projects.
Don't use Dev C++ which has already been recommended. It's very very old and outdated.
If you want to learn unix tools download and install cygwin It's a good set of tools but a full install takes up 5 or 6 gigs because so much is included.
There is always Digital Mars. Also, you can freely download Microsoft WDK
which comes with their C/C++ compiler and command-line build system.
You will be hard-pressed to find an IDE as capable as MS VS. It is incredibly feature-rich.
However, if you just want command line compiling and linking it can do that too.
GCC is also an option.
Please note that you do not need another compiler or IDE to use boost libraries. I wouldn't replace Visual Studio with any other IDE/compiler, at least not on Windows. Installing Cygwin or SUA (better than Cygwin, closer to the Windows Kernel) will only be a pain just for what you are trying to reach.
Try to minimize the memory usage by disabling unnecessary things, keep the amount of open source files small, use an alternative to document explorer to find help (your browser on msdn will do). Besides that, I wouldn't call a few ten megabytes of memory a high usage. As long as it doesn't slow your system down there is not a real issue.
A better idea would be to upgrade your computer rather than to replace something powerful with something that you don't know.
Seriously there is no real alternative to Ms's compiler on Windows. All the others are OK if you can't spring for Visual Studio or if you are just doing hobbyist work. Cygwin can be a pain to deal with.
If you don't want the IDE as someone else suggested just use the command-line compiler.
I've found VS to be quite good for doing Boost + Qt work. Especially if you have the Qt + VS integration tool. You get a GUI designer and respectable Qt project management tools.
If you are looking for a compiler that uses fewer system resources than the MS ones, you'll probably find that most modern compilers that are able to compile a good part of or almost everything in Boost will be quite heavy on system resources, both processor usage and memory consumption. To a certain extent that's just par for the course when it comes to C++.
That said, I do like to have a second compiler around if I'm writing portable code as it's a lot easier to iron out portability issues when you can ensure that the code compiles in different environments. If you want to do all that on Windows, may Cygwin is worth a look. However it does seem that the GCC you get with Cygwin is not exactly what you'd call up to date.
The aforementioned Digital Mars compilers are well worth a look, Walter Bright (the guy behind them) has been writing C++ compilers for a long time and they're pretty good. I have used them off and on since the early nineties and I've always been happy with them. Not to mention that they always seemed noticeably faster than the Microsoft offerings, but I haven't got any recent measurements to back that up.
At the end of the day, most third-party tool vendors on Windows tend to target the MS environment so if you're writing C++ code professionally and need/want tools like leak detectors, you pretty much need to be able to build with the MS compilers, even if they aren't your main development environment.
I sugget , Netbeans.org
NetBeans IDE , download the Cygwin , follow one tutorial from http://www.netbeans.org for C++ confuguration at Netbeans IDE , just 2 steps.. and u are ok
autocomplete (faster than VS')
classes
and all... you want xD
It needs to mention about DevCpp. It is a simple UI wrap for gcc compiler (oh my, it is sounds like a tautology). It provides lightweight IDE but not so stable (so, its IntelliSense is somewhat buggy).
If you use Qt why not use their IDE, QtCreator, there is compiler, debugger and GUI designer. All comes in one nice package and works on Windows, Mac and Linux.
In my opinion it's better than Code::Blocks (also based on MinGW/GCC).