I'm a fairly new C++ programmer and after using Notepad++ while learning the basics of the language I started using Code::Blocks and I really like it. Could someone point out the advantages of Visual Studio Express? Do you think it would be worth switching assuming I'm already fairly comfortable using Code::Blocks? Thanks.
The best free IDE I've ever used is Eclipse. It has many useful features like better code completion, syntax highlighting, Task List, hundreds of free plugins for connecting with version control systems, etc., profiler integration, even a built-in web browser ;) not available in Visual Studio Express Edition. The only reason for which I would use VS EE is MS's compiler - although Eclipse has integration with it, it isn't able to debug programs built with MS's compiler.
Most IDE's are already been named in this thread so I will only include those are still missing from the list.
- Eclipse
- Netbeans
- xcode (only if you are on mac os platform)
Like so many said you properly best off with Visal C++ express if you are on a windows machine. I also recommend using above Visual studio which has allot more features but they will only unnecessary slow down you pc.
If you are mac person you might wanna go with Xcode it is not free any more so that is the only downside.
For my self I use netbeans due the fact it can handle multiple languages and is cross platform. I prefer it above the eclipse that is quite similar and has also support for multiple languages but I find eclipse bit slow my self.
With Eclipse or Qtcreator you can easily have a similar environment on all OS: Win/Lin/OSX86
@jbadams, I think also with Qtcreator you are free to choose any licence, of course. If not let me know...I know several developers on
Qtcreator which do commercial stuff....I'd be eager to get their code. (evil)
Do you think it would be worth switching assuming I'm already fairly comfortable using Code::Blocks?
If you're already comfortable with Code::Blocks there probably isn't much value in switching, unless you'd just like to familiarise yourself with another popular IDE.
I though DevC++ had been abandoned. Did the devs pick it back up?
I know you said IDE but have you considered makefiles? I recently got into using NMake and it cuts a lot of the files from the compiling. It also frees you to use any editor you want. I'm using VC++ 2010 for editing.
Is Nmake cross platform? I've only used cmake which is very good. But of course it's not an IDE...
@jbadams
quote:
"qtCreator is free even for commercial use as long as you comply with the LGPL licence - otherwise an alternative commercial licence is available."
Oh men, you really must have had a bad day! Any you belong to stuff. I'll report that to the admin.
I am a fan of using Vim with a shedload of plugins such as NERDTree and exuberant-ctags to make it into an IDE.
If you need to use Visual Studio, then there are some good vim plugins for it too.
The best thing about Vim is that I can use it on any platform and through SSH and it always looks and works in 100% the same way. Consistency plays a very important part in allowing me to generate acceptable code quickly whereas I find that typical IDEs change too much with each release to be productive.
@mike4,
nmake is akin to make or gmake.
cmake is akin to makefile "makers" such as autotools or bakefile.
If the Makefile is written correctly, it can be understood perfectly by nmake as well as any other make utiity. So yeah it is cross platform. What I tend to have though is multiple Makefiles in a folder.
Makefile.Linux
Makefile.OpenBSD
Makefile.Win32
And then just run it like so...
make -f Makefile.`uname`
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Mutiny - Open-source C++ Unity re-implementation. Defile of Eden 2 - FreeBSD and OpenBSD binaries of our latest game.
