# Good free C++ compilers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2000, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-c-compilers/30803 "2000-08-26T04:33:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2000, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-c-compilers/30803/1 "2000-08-26T04:33:46Z")
I’m trying to learn C++. I have a text I like, but I can’t learn anything computational unless I can put things into action. I also have zero budget for this kind of stuff. I tried to download Borland’s freebie, but all I got was a lot of code files after a hugely long download. I flushed them all and am ready to start over. Which one do the Dopers recommend? ---
**Author:** ![Hunsecker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Hunsecker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunsecker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2000, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-c-compilers/30803/2 "2000-08-26T17:55:32Z")
For just learning, and doing simple stuff, you may want to take a look at [DJGPP](http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/). It sounds like its DOS only though, and I’m not sure it has a debugger. There might also be a windows port of EGCS and GDB which are a commonly used Unix\* compiler and debugger, respectively. There are also free development enviroments, if you’re willing to use Linux (Kdevelop, a Visual C++ clone) or BeOS (BeIDE?, based on Metrowerks’ IDE). These usually let you organize all your source files into a project, and let you set up options for how to build the project. Also, they’ve typically got an integrated debugger, which makes life much easier. - (actually not just Unix, but most POSIX compliant systems like Linux, HP-UX, IRIX, BeOS, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![nick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f9ae1b/32.png) [@nick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nick)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-c-compilers/30803/3 "2000-08-26T18:11:09Z")
djgpp is actually a port gcc and g++ to windows, the same guy that ported it also did the same for gdb. It runs in DOS. There is also a port of VIM to windows, which is an excellent editor for coding, in my opinion. It has syntax highlighting, and(at least on the unix version) you can specify words to highlight, very nice. Or, I’m sure there are good(free) Windows compilers or IDE’s out there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2000, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-c-compilers/30803/4 "2000-08-26T18:30:09Z")
There’s also Bloodshed Dev C++ compiler. Get it at: [http://www.bloodshed.net](http://www.bloodshed.net) But I can’t seem to log on there, so there’s also: [http://www.softseek.com/Programming/C/Review\_17755\_index.html](http://www.softseek.com/Programming/C/Review_17755_index.html) Also find Free C/C++ compilers at: [http://www.allfreeware.com/compile\_c.html](http://www.allfreeware.com/compile_c.html) [http://www.thefreecountry.com/developercity/cc.html](http://www.thefreecountry.com/developercity/cc.html) Hope that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-free-c-compilers/30803/5 "2000-08-27T00:07:52Z")
Wow. Thanks.