General purpose C compiler

[mkuang]

This is a bit off topic but can someone recommend a good general purpose C compiler for Windows XP? Not for microcontrollers but something that will work for C programs written for data manipulation, such as reading in a text file with numbers and perform statistical analysis as such.

[Ttelmah]

It depends massively on what you want to do.
If you are happy with simple command line style output, get hold of something really old, like an early copy of TurboC. Something like 2.01. Free, and for command line use, nothing is much better. If however you want to actually integrate with Windows, then you will need to look at something latter. I think the last version of Visual Studio, to have a pure 'C', as opposed to C++, was about V5 or V6.

Best Wishes

[kfarr]

GCC has a windows ports.

sourceforge_._net/projects/gcw
mingw_._org

Then there's always cygwin...
cygwin_._com

[FvM]

[andrewg]

http://www.smorgasbordet.com/pellesc/

This was pointed out to me when I was looking for Windows Mobile compilers, but it also does desktop Windows. I haven't yet downloaded it to see what it's like.
_________________
Andrew

[John P]

I'm strictly a non-programmer on computers, but sometimes you just need something to exercise the harware, and then you want to be able to write something quick and dirty that does the job. I've used this free compiler and found it quite easy to get things running. In particular, it has a "wizard" to set up the shell of a program that saves you having to deal with all the rigmarole of creating a program to run under Windows.

I don't think command line progams are acceptable in the modern world. It's not too difficult to do better than that.

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

[asmboy]

I tried pelles C a while back but it was a TOTAL bust.

reason #1

Does not support the windows serial API for com ports , w/o writing a DMA supporting lib from scratch.
It has an IO32 lib BUT it can ONLY handle register based UART serial
and parallel port access.

BTW: all modern notebooks don't tend to HAVE uarts at all.

To get serial data ports - you have to use an Edgeport or similar PIC with USB mediated "virtual RS-232" translation.

w/o a lot of pain - I could not get serial com working and abandoned it.

In the end it was much struggle for no results.

[andrewg]

Obviously I haven't actually tried it, but the Pelles C include files have all the Win32 serial API functions mentioned in http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms810467.aspx

If the rest of the Windows API is working fine, I see no reason why this specific set wouldn't? Unless you were looking for the Win16 OpenComm function and friends, that were removed in the Win32 API?
_________________
Andrew

[mkuang]

Thanks for all your replies. The main application I am looking for is to sort through comma delimited files like an excel spreadsheet stored as a .txt file or something like that. So it nees to handle possibly tens of thousands of rolls of data. Obviously it will need standard IOs such as opening and closing files. I remember using something like it when I was in college (it was awhile ago) and it was UNIX based. So I am not sure what is out there right now for Windows XP or Vista.

[mmprestine]

Just download one of the Visual Studio Express editions from Microsoft. They will do everything you need for free.

http://www.microsoft.com/express/product/

[asmboy]

RE: VS express - Got it
hate it
one big PIG of an ide
with BLOAT and annoyance and crazy complexity - at every turn.
a typical M'soft offering.
in my opinion, worth considerably less than i paid for it
which was $0 too

[rherrera72]

Of course I can not recommend anything from micro$oft, bloodshed Dev-C++ is a very capable all purpose C compiler, take a look.

http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html

Best Regards.

[asmboy]

guilty as charged - i admit it yup - dev-c++ 4.0

doesn't suck in the least

[John P]

I thought of writing a program to sort through comma delimited files like an excel spreadsheet stored as a .txt file using the lcc-win32 compiler I mentioned before, and it seemed very easy. Of course, that's the way every vastly underestimated project seems at first, but well--it seems very easy.

You'd have to explain "tens of thousands of rolls of data". I don't generally roll my data.

[treitmey]

If all your doing is sorting through a text file,.. look at PERL.

It has been around a while in the unix world. but you can also
get it for the PC. It has lots of great little uses.