Good shareware compiler for C?

[H.]

I am a student taking a machine structures class in a university, which
includes learning C. I am looking for a good freeware or shareware
compiler which can be used in a "C only" mode. C++ isn't allowed in
assignments, and I would like the compiler to check for C syntax
instead of C++ syntax. Besides that, ease of use for a beginner and
basic debugging capabilities are important.

Suggestions are welcome.

 

[jacob navia]

H. a écrit :

I am a student taking a machine structures class in a university, which
includes learning C. I am looking for a good freeware or shareware
compiler which can be used in a "C only" mode. C++ isn't allowed in
assignments, and I would like the compiler to check for C syntax
instead of C++ syntax. Besides that, ease of use for a beginner and
basic debugging capabilities are important.

Suggestions are welcome.

If you use windows you can use my compiler system lcc-win32

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lcc-win32

o All windows APIs are supported
o 128 bit integers, 352 bits floating points
o bignums

o IDE + project management and makefile generation
o debugger (windowed)
o ressource editor (graphical dialog box designer)

o profiler
o grep/diff/search/ and many other goodies

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lcc-win32

 

[David T. Ashley]

I am a student taking a machine structures class in a university, which
includes learning C. I am looking for a good freeware or shareware
compiler which can be used in a "C only" mode. C++ isn't allowed in
assignments, and I would like the compiler to check for C syntax
instead of C++ syntax. Besides that, ease of use for a beginner and
basic debugging capabilities are important.

Suggestions are welcome.

Suggestions:

a)There are a number of ports of gcc that will work. Other posters will
suggest them, I'm sure.

b)Microsoft's Visual C++ has come way down in price (about $120 now, I
think). This might be an option. It will operate in "C only" mode.

c)If you have a spare PC, you can just download Fedora and set up a Linux
box. gcc is automatically part of that.

d)If you can get an account on a *nix machine somewhere, you could always
use a compiler remotely. This might seem awkward, but with Putty or another
terminal emulator you can edit competently ... it works fine.

By the way, "gcc" is the "GNU Compiler Collection" or the "GNU C Compiler"
(I'm not sure which), but if you search by "gcc home page" you'll find it.

 

[user923005]

I am a student taking a machine structures class in a university, which
includes learning C. I am looking for a good freeware or shareware
compiler which can be used in a "C only" mode. C++ isn't allowed in
assignments, and I would like the compiler to check for C syntax
instead of C++ syntax. Besides that, ease of use for a beginner and
basic debugging capabilities are important.

Suggestions are welcome.

For Windows:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/default.aspx

For any platform:
http://www.mingw.org/download.shtml +
http://www.eclipse.org/callisto/downloads.php +
http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/callisto/dist/3.1.1/

 

[David T. Ashley]

For Windows:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/default.aspx

It seems from the Microsoft website that this is a free download (I'm
shocked). Did I get that right?

Also, I'm going to guess that gcc has forced Microsoft to do this. With gcc
available for Windows, it is more than adequate for the instructional needs
of universities, people trying to learn C on their own, and so on. I think
Microsoft has been forced to do this. Am I guessing right?

 

[Serve Laurijssen]

b)Microsoft's Visual C++ has come way down in price (about $120 now, I
think). This might be an option. It will operate in "C only" mode.

The learning edition of VC is free which compiles C89 code.

If you want to be able to program C99 too, lcc-win32 goes a long way if not
all the way and gcc is pretty decent too

 

[Dave Vandervies]

[Drifting off-topic...]

b)Microsoft's Visual C++ has come way down in price (about $120 now, I
think). This might be an option. It will operate in "C only" mode.

Microsoft will even let you use it without charging you for it, if you
choose the right version.
For somebody who's already running Windows and just trying to get started
with a C compiler, this is probably the best choice, though it does take
a little bit of Clue to bludgeon VC++ into submission if you want it to
act like a conforming C compiler.

c)If you have a spare PC, you can just download Fedora and set up a Linux
box. gcc is automatically part of that.

I believe the usual Linux recommendation is Ubuntu these days.
(Personally, I'd go with one of the BSDs, but that might be a bit on the
new-user-unfriendly side for somebody who's just trying to get started
with C.)

If the OP doesn't mind installing some kind of virtualization software
(also available at no cost if you choose the right package and version),
this can even be done without a spare machine. But that's probably not
worth the effort unless you're looking for more than just a C compiler.

d)If you can get an account on a *nix machine somewhere, you could always
use a compiler remotely. This might seem awkward, but with Putty or another
terminal emulator you can edit competently ... it works fine.

Perhaps I'm just old-fashioned, but it seems to me that the OP's school
should have a Unix machine in a closet somewhere for exactly this purpose.


It's also worth checking whether the school has suitable software
available to students at no cost.


See also:
http://cpax.org.uk/prg/portable/c/resources.php#FreeCompilers


dave

 

[David Wade]

I am a student taking a machine structures class in a university, which
includes learning C. I am looking for a good freeware or shareware
compiler which can be used in a "C only" mode. C++ isn't allowed in
assignments, and I would like the compiler to check for C syntax
instead of C++ syntax. Besides that, ease of use for a beginner and
basic debugging capabilities are important.

Suggestions are welcome.

Assuming you want to run on Windows there are lots of choices. Not sure how
they each police C against C++ but the all work.
Personally I tend to use MINGW from www.mingw.org. Its a bit fiddly to get
installed, but its a native "C" on Windows. Its widely used and well
supported. Others are Watcom, www.openwatcom.org, VisualStudio C Express
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/default.aspx .

I think most of these will assume files of filetype "C" are C not C++ but
how much checking they do I am not sure. In some ways the last two are
easier to use for a move as they include Integrated Development
Environments. If you are going to develop Windows programs then I would
certainly suggest the latter...

Dave.

 

[David Wade]

It seems from the Microsoft website that this is a free download (I'm
shocked). Did I get that right?

Yes its right. They have always had student editions that were cheap...

Also, I'm going to guess that gcc has forced Microsoft to do this. With gcc
available for Windows, it is more than adequate for the instructional needs
of universities, people trying to learn C on their own, and so on. I think
Microsoft has been forced to do this. Am I guessing right?

I don't think so as they have done the same for all developer products. C#,
VB and WebDeveloper are also free....

 

[H.]

If you use windows you can use my compiler system lcc-win32

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lcc-win32

I do use Windows, and this looks great. One problem though is that when
I click on "lcc-win32" which I think should open an executable, what
happens instead is that the URL changes to:
http://www.q-software-solutions.de/downloaders/get_name
which lists some C books for purchase.
At this page, after searching, I found a "take me to the downloads"
link. So the problem is really a UI one. Anyway, thanks.

 

[jacob navia]

H. a écrit :

I do use Windows, and this looks great. One problem though is that when
I click on "lcc-win32" which I think should open an executable, what
happens instead is that the URL changes to:
http://www.q-software-solutions.de/downloaders/get_name
which lists some C books for purchase.
At this page, after searching, I found a "take me to the downloads"
link. So the problem is really a UI one. Anyway, thanks.

Yeah...

We try to get some money to cover the costs of the server,
the bandwidth, etc. But as you see, it is free.

 

[rbhlgjwbvi]

If you use windows you can use my compiler system lcc-win32

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lcc-win32

Before you think about downloading this, you might like to browse
recent postings by jn in this group. While being an arrogant prat
doesn't necessarily indicate that someone will be a bad
compiler-writer, the cavalier attitude to international standards
displayed day in, day out on this group should give pause for thought.

 

[Cesar Rabak]

H. escreveu:

I am a student taking a machine structures class in a university, which
includes learning C. I am looking for a good freeware or shareware
compiler which can be used in a "C only" mode. C++ isn't allowed in
assignments, and I would like the compiler to check for C syntax
instead of C++ syntax. Besides that, ease of use for a beginner and
basic debugging capabilities are important.

Suggestions are welcome.

Given the multitude of suggestions that arrived here, don't you think
the FAQ could also reflect this?

 

[Cesar Rabak]

As I did not see still being mentioned here, Turbo C++ can also compile
C code http://www.turboexplorer.com/cpp and there is the so called
Command Line tool compiler from CodeGear (formerly Borland)
http://www.codegear.com/default.aspx?tabid=139

 

[Keith Thompson]

H. escreveu:
Given the multitude of suggestions that arrived here, don't you think
the FAQ could also reflect this?

See section 18. If you think some significant information is missing,
contact Steve Summit.

 

[CBFalconer]

.... snip ...

It seems from the Microsoft website that this is a free download
(I'm shocked). Did I get that right?

Also, I'm going to guess that gcc has forced Microsoft to do this.
With gcc available for Windows, it is more than adequate for the
instructional needs of universities, people trying to learn C on
their own, and so on. I think Microsoft has been forced to do
this. Am I guessing right?

As far as I am concerned it is useless. Claims to require W2000
up, and I won't let those on my hardware, due to the EULA. Stick
with some version of GCC.

 

[Richard Bos]

I am a student taking a machine structures class in a university, which
includes learning C. I am looking for a good freeware or shareware
compiler which can be used in a "C only" mode. C++ isn't allowed in
assignments, and I would like the compiler to check for C syntax
instead of C++ syntax. Besides that, ease of use for a beginner and
basic debugging capabilities are important.

Suggestions are welcome.

<http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html>. Despite the name, it also does
straight C.

Richard

 

[Bob Martin]

I believe the usual Linux recommendation is Ubuntu these days.
(Personally, I'd go with one of the BSDs, but that might be a bit on the
new-user-unfriendly side for somebody who's just trying to get started
with C.)

If the OP doesn't mind installing some kind of virtualization software
(also available at no cost if you choose the right package and version),
this can even be done without a spare machine. But that's probably not
worth the effort unless you're looking for more than just a C compiler.

Neither a spare PC nor virtualisation software is necessary to add Ubuntu
to your machine as long as you have sufficient free hard disk space - about 3GB
is more than enough. I have 4 different operating systems on a machine with
20GB of HDD (OS/2, Ubuntu 6.10, W2K and W98).

If you don't want to disturb your HDD partitioning then look at Virtual Box (it's free).

http://www.virtualbox.org/

 

[ais523]

I am a student taking a machine structures class in a university, which
includes learning C. I am looking for a good freeware or shareware
compiler which can be used in a "C only" mode. C++ isn't allowed in
assignments, and I would like the compiler to check for C syntax
instead of C++ syntax. Besides that, ease of use for a beginner and
basic debugging capabilities are important.

Suggestions are welcome.

I'd suggest DJGPP (http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/) (responses elsethread
imply you're running Windows); it contains a version of gcc that runs
on Windows' emulation of DOS. Its advantage over many of the other
Windows compilers is that it is normally capable of translating
(nonportable) code written for UNIX/Linux systems into something
sensible.

 

[Serve Laurijssen]

Before you think about downloading this, you might like to browse
recent postings by jn in this group. While being an arrogant prat
doesn't necessarily indicate that someone will be a bad
compiler-writer, the cavalier attitude to international standards
displayed day in, day out on this group should give pause for thought.

Advising somebody not to use his compiler because you dont agree with the
compiler writer's way of posting in a freaking newsgroup is really sad.

Get out more and learn to see things in perspective.