C++ Compilers

Dev C++

Do I want to develop for Direct X 8.1, when 9 was released rescently, wasn''t it?

Is this Dev C++ or any other suggestions to be made in the future just as good for working with DirectX / OpenGL, as I am planning to do a lot of game programming.

How about Code Warrrior?

The GCC C++ compiler (that comes with Dev-C++) produces slower, and exceptionally larger executables than Visual C++ 6 and Visual C++ .NET compilers, although it is fractionally more compliant to the ISO C++ standard than either MS version (although with Visual Studio .NET 2003, aka Everett, that will no longer be the case). If you are interested purely in making C++ code, and don''t care about the .NET framework, I would recommend a copy of Visual C++ Professional, you can probably buy a lot of pre-owned copies for very cheap nowadays.

I can''t say anything about Dev-Cpp, but the compiler it uses should be great. As for Linux, you''ll most likely be using either the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) or Intel C++. Both of which are, umm, excelent (although, as far as C++ goes, GCC would rank better in compliance and performance, but there are a lot of types of applications where Intel C++ shines. And since ICC is aiming to be as compliant as possible with GCC extensions and such, you could probably split a project and let one take advantage of each''s strengths.

If you do decide to go with a commercial monolithic IDE, I highly recommend you wait patiently for the release of VS.NET 2003 and grab a pro version of that. There won''t be many large new features in the C++ category, but several that will make life as a C++ coder much more pleasant. Namely the better ISO C++ compliance and optimizations, and finally decent supporting tools for the framework (RAD is the nicest ).

As for using Windows 98SE.. it sounds like you''ll probably need a software upgrade, and most likely some major hardware upgrades to enjoy VS.NET (I recommend no less than 1.3Ghz and 768Mb, and if you can afford it, dual processors). Windows XP Pro goes for about $143 OEM (manuals must be pretty damn expensive to print these days, or that retail box must be pretty damn fun to play with )..

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The GCC C++ compiler (that comes with Dev-C++) produces slower, and exceptionally larger executables

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Be careful with that, the VC++6 Standard Edition does not do very much optimization and produces far slower executables for most code than GCC. I can't comment on the pro/enterprise editions (which of course cost 5 times more). .NET I don't know about but I would suspect similar results.

[edited by - JuNC on December 28, 2002 4:02:42 PM]

Brobanx,

Care to back those claims up with some benchmarks/references? I''ve found GCC 3.1 and greater to be a good competitor with Intel C++ in performance. The only thing lacking is better support for some p4 optimizations (namely SSE2, and on the Athlon XP side, the 3DNow! updates). That will be coming with the 3.3 release, which is due for release in late Jan. or early Feb if regression tests go "smoothly." I can''t say much about the binary sizes, since you''ll need to statically link some libraries (libstdc++ for example) to distribute your work on Windows; unless you only use MS''s libraries. But we aren''t developing for phones here, so binary size is mostly irrelevant (especially on an optimized for speed build). Everett (2003) caught up of course. But, as far as C++, VS.NET (and yes, 2003) will lag behind in performance for a long time, or atleast until someone ports over a better STL implementation (Dinkumware isn''t exactly.. hmm).

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Anyhow, I forgot to mention a few things. CodeWarrior is also a pretty nice IDE as well, caist0. I''ve only used it for console development (gameboy advanced, but after playing Metroid Prime -- damn that game rocks! -- I''m really inspired to play with the GameCube. )It''s also pretty portable, so if you wanted to at a later date you could get into OS X development too. Although, OSX comes with a free IDE too, and since it''s mostly a UNIX, you could also use all your favorite Linux tools.

From what I''ve heard, the standard version has never provided any optimizing options whatsoever. This may or may not be a problem depending on your needs. While you''re learning, this should not be a problem. It''ll give you time to get used to the interface and tools, as well as the language. In that time (which will be a long time ), you could be saving up for the next Professional edition.

However, then again, whether you need it now or not is questionable(sp?) as well. It shouldn''t be hard to get comfortable with a fancy editor and toolset. You could get started using Mingw (which is a port of all the stuff from GCC you need to create Win32 applications). And yes, DX9 will work just fine with it. If you''re interested with Managed DX9 (which does provide a somewhat nicer OO getup), you''ll need to dive into .NET. This shouldn''t be a concern, you should develop a base code for your work anyhow (rewriting the wheel with DX will waste months of your life when added up hehe). I really recommend you start with OpenGL though. Majority of people find it easier to dive into, and that''s the point. When you get into 3D/2D programming, you should be playing with your ideas until they work, not fighting an API until it decides to play nicely.

VC.NET 2K3 provides very fast executables (I have EA edition), much faster than 6 (any version). The standard editions of the .NET compilers are not optimizing.

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