Compilers

You can download and install Visual Studio Community edition for free. Remember to select the C++ environment since it is not enable by default in VS 2015.

You can get it from here: https://www.visualstudio.com/products/visual-studio-community-vs.aspx

There are also the express edition which are lighter to download and install and are still free (and doesn't have any commercial limitation) however they do not support the installation of 3rd party plug-ins, and the C++ support comes in two distinct edition (one for traditional Desktop and one for Microsoft Store UWP applications).

You can download and install Visual Studio Community edition for free. Remember to select the C++ environment since it is not enable by default in VS 2015.

You can get it from here: https://www.visualstudio.com/products/visual-studio-community-vs.aspx

There are also the express edition which are lighter to download and install and are still free (and doesn't have any commercial limitation) however they do not support the installation of 3rd party plug-ins, and the C++ support comes in two distinct edition (one for traditional Desktop and one for Microsoft Store UWP applications).

Thank you Alessio! I'll check it out over the next couple of days and see how they work for me. I greatly appreciate it!

MinGW is also available for Windows 10, it is a port of the GCC (default compiler for most Linux distros). There is no IDE and everything is done through the command line, if you're into that sort of thing.
Advantages:
- no IDE means zero start-up time
- better C++ language standard compliance
- no pesky project settings to get lost in
- produces well-optimized code
- (optional) often possible to compile code written for a different platform, but only if you manage to install msys/binutils and such correctly
Disadvantages:
- your IDE is pretty much just notepad
- no microsoft-specific compiler extensions
- no project settings means you have to either manually enter the locations of all libraries and include directories, or get good at MAKE.
- makefiles targetting MinGW are rather more rare in the wild than VS project files, when dealing with projects downloaded from the internet.

I would strongly advise against using a MinGW-derivate as a beginner and I am saying that as someone who uses MinGW for all his hobby work and enjoys that.

C++ has enough problems and pitfalls for a beginner. You should not add even more problems on top of that by using the non-standard compiler for your OS.

And if you still disregard my advise above, at least get a proper IDE. Personally I have come to like QtCreator a lot (and I do not use an iota of Qt).

Advantages:
- no IDE means zero start-up time
- better C++ language standard compliance
- no pesky project settings to get lost in
- produces well-optimized code
- (optional) often possible to compile code written for a different platform, but only if you manage to install msys/binutils and such correctly

Non of there are advantages of non-MSVS nor they are disadvantages of MSVS, as they are easily achievable with the Microsoft compiler.

MinGW is also available for Windows 10, it is a port of the GCC (default compiler for most Linux distros). There is no IDE and everything is done through the command line, if you're into that sort of thing.
Advantages:
- no IDE means zero start-up time
- better C++ language standard compliance
- no pesky project settings to get lost in
- produces well-optimized code
- (optional) often possible to compile code written for a different platform, but only if you manage to install msys/binutils and such correctly
Disadvantages:
- your IDE is pretty much just notepad
- no microsoft-specific compiler extensions
- no project settings means you have to either manually enter the locations of all libraries and include directories, or get good at MAKE.
- makefiles targetting MinGW are rather more rare in the wild than VS project files, when dealing with projects downloaded from the internet.

Thank you for the suggestion. I think I may save this one for after I get more experience and more comfortable with programming in general.

Advantages:
- better C++ language standard compliance

Non of there are advantages of non-MSVS nor they are disadvantages of MSVS, as they are easily achievable with the Microsoft compiler.

Microsoft's compiler still lags a bit behind on conformance issues, not much now, but some. There are some language features that can't be fully supported (or at all) until their compiler rejuvenation project is complete. They've written about it on their blog, but the basic problem is that for historical reasons the compiler took things from source to final representation as quickly as possible, so unlike most other compilers there's no intermediate form representation of the entire translation unit, and this makes a few of the new language features very difficult to achieve. Good progress is being made on the rejuvenation though, they announced their SSA optimizer recently, which is a first step in resolving the legacy problem. There is an interim sort of work around, though, that I'll speak to in a bit.

OP:

First, we need to settle on some terms -- A Compiler is the program that transforms your source code to machine code in an object file; notable examples are GCC, Clang, and Cl (Microsoft's compiler). An IDE is the tool many people use to write their source code, manage their projects, debug, and do other things; notable examples (for C++) are DevC++, XCode, and Visual Studio. You don't need an IDE to write code -- you can use any text editor you like, or other IDE-lite offerings -- as long as you're comfortable doing your compiling and linking from the command-line, and with debugging with stand-along tools like WinDBG or GDB. For running your builds, things like MAKE and MSBuild exist -- those allow you to build your program for various targets easily, from the command-line.

For an IDE, Visual Studio Community is probably your best bet right now -- As long as you select the C++ tools during install, everything should be set up. Other IDE options, IDE-lites, and text-editor-based workflows usually require a bit of extra setup.

For the compiler, there are a few things to address -- I'd wager that DevC++ in your instance is pointing to a GCC compiler, or possibly to Clang. Either of these have different command-line options and language support than Microsoft's compiler. If its the case that you'll need to use a compatible compiler for you course-work, you'll need to set them up. Possibly, one option is Microsoft's Clang/C2 compiler -- basically this is the Clang front-end, strapped to Microsoft's Code Generator; this gives you a GNU-style compiler (command-line options) that has Clang's level of language support, and creates object files, libraries, and DLLs that are compatible with programs written with Microsoft's normal toolchain. It might be enough for you to do your coursework with. I've used it myself to write code using Boost::Spirit::V3 (a template library that doesn't compile with Microsoft's toolchain).

If your school is a linux house, another good option around the corner is Bash on Ubuntu on Windows -- This is basically the entire Ubuntu user-land running on top of windows, and gives you a full Ubuntu command-line environment right out of the box -- its not "like" Ubuntu, it is Ubuntu -- You can run any Ubuntu binaries you get right from Apt, or you can compile and build from source, just the same as any Ubuntu machine. I believe that's being released to the public with the Windows Anniversary update on August 2nd (based on Ubuntu 16.04), but I'm not 100% certain; you can get it on the fast-ring now though (based on Ubuntu 14.04).

In any event, you'll always want to ensure that your program compiles and runs correctly using whatever environment your work is graded against. Even if you think your code should work and be portable, you don't want to start racking up zeros because you didn't test it.

Advantages:
- better C++ language standard compliance

Non of there are advantages of non-MSVS nor they are disadvantages of MSVS, as they are easily achievable with the Microsoft compiler.

Microsoft's compiler still lags a bit behind on conformance issues, not much now, but some. There are some language features that can't be fully supported (or at all) until their compiler rejuvenation project is complete. They've written about it on their blog, but the basic problem is that for historical reasons the compiler took things from source to final representation as quickly as possible, so unlike most other compilers there's no intermediate form representation of the entire translation unit, and this makes a few of the new language features very difficult to achieve. Good progress is being made on the rejuvenation though, they announced their SSA optimizer recently, which is a first step in resolving the legacy problem. There is an interim sort of work around, though, that I'll speak to in a bit.

OP:

First, we need to settle on some terms -- A Compiler is the program that transforms your source code to machine code in an object file; notable examples are GCC, Clang, and Cl (Microsoft's compiler). An IDE is the tool many people use to write their source code, manage their projects, debug, and do other things; notable examples (for C++) are DevC++, XCode, and Visual Studio. You don't need an IDE to write code -- you can use any text editor you like, or other IDE-lite offerings -- as long as you're comfortable doing your compiling and linking from the command-line, and with debugging with stand-along tools like WinDBG or GDB. For running your builds, things like MAKE and MSBuild exist -- those allow you to build your program for various targets easily, from the command-line.

For an IDE, Visual Studio Community is probably your best bet right now -- As long as you select the C++ tools during install, everything should be set up. Other IDE options, IDE-lites, and text-editor-based workflows usually require a bit of extra setup.

For the compiler, there are a few things to address -- I'd wager that DevC++ in your instance is pointing to a GCC compiler, or possibly to Clang. Either of these have different command-line options and language support than Microsoft's compiler. If its the case that you'll need to use a compatible compiler for you course-work, you'll need to set them up. Possibly, one option is Microsoft's Clang/C2 compiler -- basically this is the Clang front-end, strapped to Microsoft's Code Generator; this gives you a GNU-style compiler (command-line options) that has Clang's level of language support, and creates object files, libraries, and DLLs that are compatible with programs written with Microsoft's normal toolchain. It might be enough for you to do your coursework with. I've used it myself to write code using Boost::Spirit::V3 (a template library that doesn't compile with Microsoft's toolchain).

If your school is a linux house, another good option around the corner is Bash on Ubuntu on Windows -- This is basically the entire Ubuntu user-land running on top of windows, and gives you a full Ubuntu command-line environment right out of the box -- its not "like" Ubuntu, it is Ubuntu -- You can run any Ubuntu binaries you get right from Apt, or you can compile and build from source, just the same as any Ubuntu machine. I believe that's being released to the public with the Windows Anniversary update on August 2nd (based on Ubuntu 16.04), but I'm not 100% certain; you can get it on the fast-ring now though (based on Ubuntu 14.04).

In any event, you'll always want to ensure that your program compiles and runs correctly using whatever environment your work is graded against. Even if you think your code should work and be portable, you don't want to start racking up zeros because you didn't test it.

Hey Ravyne, thank you for all the information and clarification. I think the term mix up was caused by my professor calling DevC++ a compiler, which I guess isn't entirely incorrect as that is all we used. We do all our work on Windows and so far we just use the one I mentioned. I'm going into my second C++ class next month, so we will see if things change. Since I can access what i need for school over the internet and their virtual desktop, I'm good on that front. I'm more concerned about getting something that will work for personal use so I'm not saving those projects I am doing on my own somewhere other than the school's servers.

This is certainly a lot to go through, but I appreciate it and plan to look into all these options.

MinGW is also available for Windows 10, it is a port of the GCC (default compiler for most Linux distros). There is no IDE and everything is done through the command line, if you're into that sort of thing.
Advantages:
- no IDE means zero start-up time
- better C++ language standard compliance
- no pesky project settings to get lost in
- produces well-optimized code
- (optional) often possible to compile code written for a different platform, but only if you manage to install msys/binutils and such correctly
Disadvantages:
- your IDE is pretty much just notepad
- no microsoft-specific compiler extensions
- no project settings means you have to either manually enter the locations of all libraries and include directories, or get good at MAKE.
- makefiles targetting MinGW are rather more rare in the wild than VS project files, when dealing with projects downloaded from the internet.

I sense a lots of elitism in this comment.

Beginners, people new to c++ should go with the best IDE their platform has, and concentrate on the language (and compiler basics), before going down a route like this. Also, don't forget a good IDE significantly increases productivity, and that's really important in the beginning to avoid turning away the newcomer from a language, because it doesn't have good tooling.

Startup times also not significant, especially not nowadays, when everybody has an SSD in their system. Same things goes for advanced c++ features, beginners won't even understand a fraction of that.

I sense a lots of elitism in this comment.

Linux users. Can't live with 'em, can't :-( YOUR PC RAN INTO A PROBLEM AND NEEDS TO RESTART

when everybody has an SSD in their system.

False. My work PC is a regular HDD due to various project-specific requirements. Plus:

1. not everyone can actually afford the latest and greatest PCs
2. not everyone who can afford a newer PC, and has a newer PC, actually uses an SSD as their boot drive or program install drive.

when everybody has an SSD in their system.

False. My work PC is a regular HDD due to various project-specific requirements. Plus:1. not everyone can actually afford the latest and greatest PCs2. not everyone who can afford a newer PC, and has a newer PC, actually uses an SSD as their boot drive or program install drive.

SSDs are pretty cheap nowadays, especially the sizes you need for an OS and couple of dev tools. It's an inexpensive way to improve the reaction times of your tools, so it's mostly safe to expect any devs to have one. If they don't, they can be considered exceptions.

That's why I don't think IDE startup times matter. And even on an hdd, starting up VS doesn't take much time. Not to mention you are doing that once per a long coding session.

I sense a lots of elitism in this comment.

Linux users. Can't live with 'em, can't :-( YOUR PC RAN INTO A PROBLEM AND NEEDS TO RESTART

I'm developing on linux at work, and I have a great c++ IDE (CLion) at hand. So it's not linux. :)

Anyway, we are diverging too much from the original question. The rule of thumb, always takr the easiest route, that still.let's you work efficiently. You gain back investments into tools surprisingly quickly.

You can download and install Visual Studio Community edition for free. Remember to select the C++ environment since it is not enable by default in VS 2015.

You can get it from here: https://www.visualstudio.com/products/visual-studio-community-vs.aspx

There are also the express edition which are lighter to download and install and are still free (and doesn't have any commercial limitation) however they do not support the installation of 3rd party plug-ins, and the C++ support comes in two distinct edition (one for traditional Desktop and one for Microsoft Store UWP applications).

What commercial restrictions does visual studio community have?

To the best of my knowledge and reading the license you can still use it for commercial works but there are some weird restrictions on team size, business size and turnover?

http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/262916/understanding-visual-studio-community-edition-license

Unless you're a really big indie, or not an indie/lone wolf at all, it shouldn't be an issue for you...?

I think everyone isn't pointing out that mingw is a compiler suit that is used by majority of ide's. Its a tool kit package for software development. Now Visual Studio is a very nice ide.

It does come with a compiler and the rest of the tool kit package as well. So since that is the case I would go with visual studio when designing on windows.

However you could just use dev-C++. The Dev-c++ isn't a compiler its a ide the compiler it use is an older mingw suite so you could tweak it to use the newer mingw.

I recommend you study the enivironment a little before moving on.

SSDs are pretty cheap nowadays, especially the sizes you need for an OS and couple of dev tools. It's an inexpensive way to improve the reaction times of your tools, so it's mostly safe to expect any devs to have one. If they don't, they can be considered exceptions.

Not all project organizations support that workflow. I will reiterate my earlier statement:

My work PC is a regular HDD due to various project-specific requirements.

I do actually have an SSD on my work PC, but it's much too small. Where would I get an >3TB SSD that's cheaper than an HDD?

Also, smaller studios may not be able to spare the funds for such extravagances. Likewise, individuals may barely have enough funds available for a PC at all, never mind the latest and greatest. Beginners in particular often end up learning on old or underpowered hardware. Their needs and desires are as real as your own, exceptions though you may believe them to be (they are not). Don't make sweeping, dismissive statements that assume everyone's circumstances are the same as yours.

I will now return to lurker mode before we go further off-topic and this devolves into a thread on socioeconomics and the finer points of project-specific development environment constraints.

SSDs are pretty cheap nowadays, especially the sizes you need for an OS and couple of dev tools. It's an inexpensive way to improve the reaction times of your tools, so it's mostly safe to expect any devs to have one. If they don't, they can be considered exceptions.

Not all project organizations support that workflow. I will reiterate my earlier statement:

My work PC is a regular HDD due to various project-specific requirements.

I do actually have an SSD on my work PC, but it's much too small. Where would I get an >3TB SSD that's cheaper than an HDD?Also, smaller studios may not be able to spare the funds for such extravagances. Likewise, individuals may barely have enough funds available for a PC at all, never mind the latest and greatest. Beginners in particular often end up learning on old or underpowered hardware. Their needs and desires are as real as your own, exceptions though you may believe them to be (they are not). Don't make sweeping, dismissive statements that assume everyone's circumstances are the same as yours.I will now return to lurker mode before we go further off-topic and this devolves into a thread on socioeconomics and the finer points of project-specific development environment constraints.

I think you misunderstood my replies. I was using SSDs as an example, why IDE startup times does not matter. The project size, and or the project location has very little to do with that. Exception below.

Intellisense and such features could potentially need to parse your project at startup time (but most of the results are cached), so yeah if you have the code on an hdd, that's the only thing that slowes down when opening projects first.

This discussion about SSDs is a bit too much of a tangent. Please take it elsewhere if you'd like to continue.

I may quietly remove future posts that drift too far afield from the OPs query about compilers. Please remember that this is the beginners forum.

Code::Blocks is still a great IDE that can be MinGW powered, much in the way DevC++ used to be