The merits of various IDEs

[flyingchicken]

Yes, this thread's topic is that broad. To start off, though, I'd like to know what you guys think is/are "best" for C in Windows in various machines.

NOTE: I have just engaged in the true beginning of my lifelong journey towards ultimate enlightenment with the end of my first semester as a Computer Science major, and my experience is severely limited, though I'm always willing to learn, of course!

ALSO: I am deeply saddened and disappointed that a quick Google search of Integrated Development Environment "IDEs of March" did not turn up anything interesting.

 

[Padma]

A broad subject, indeed!

I have no real knowledge of the current state of Windows C IDE's as I quit using them years ago. There is, of course, the MS Visual C/C++ IDE, which probably has the bulk of the market, if only because it's from MS, and can better exploit the closed system that is Windows. There is also Eclipse, a free and open-source IDE, originally for Java, but with many language plug-ins available, including C/C++.

NOTE: I have just engaged in the true beginning of my lifelong journey towards ultimate enlightenment with the end of my first semester as a Computer Science major, and my experience is severely limited, though I'm always willing to learn, of course!

If you really want to learn , then I will advise you to not restrict yourself to Windows.

On the immediate subject at hand, I can quote Eric S. Raymond,

"IDEs make a lot of sense for single-language programming in a tool-poor environment. If what you're doing is confined to grinding out C or C++ code by hand and the yard, they're quite appropriate. Under Unix, however, your languages and implementation options are a lot more varied. It's common to use multiple code generators, custom configurators, and many other standard and custom tools.

IDEs do exist under Unix (there are several good open-source ones, including emulations of the major Macintosh and Windows IDEs). But it's difficult to control an open-ended variety of programming tools with them, and they're not much used. Unix encourages a more flexible style, one less exclusively centered on the edit/compile/debug loop."​

An excellent C/C++ IDE in *nix is KDevelop, based on the QT tool set.

 

[Speedo]

Visual Studio is by far the superior windows IDE, IMO. You can get the free Express version which includes Microsoft's C/C++ compiler here.

Probably the next best alternative is Code::Blocks.

 

[Till]

I agree with Speedo. Visual Studio is the gold standard IDE for developing Windows applications. For cross platform code using cygwin/mingw and non MS toolkits, i prefer Code::Blocks. Its debugger sucks, though. I use Ollydbg instead, which i almost prefer over the VS one.

 

[Zelig]

You can get Visual Studio Pro for free if you're a student, google "microsoft dreamspark".

Other than that, other posts in this thread should give you a good idea of where to start, and where to look at.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Visual Studio. Nothing is as robust, consistent and integrated. A lot of the alternatives, especially non-Windows ones don't fully embrace the idea of a true IDE. There are pros and cons for each approach, but if you are looking for a Windows IDE, than Visual Studio is your best bet.

 

[Shadylookin]

for C/c++/C# programming in windows visual studio is the way to go.

For C/C++ in linux I honestly prefer the text editor gedit and gcc/g++.

for java Eclipse is the way to go

for python I either use Eclipse-pydev plugin or IDLE.

 

[Fugitive Sisyphus]

Visual Studio is easily the best IDE for C/C++/C#.

For a general purpose IDE I use Crimson Editor since it is light-weight and I can quickly switch between a host of languages.

 

[Comraddict]

Visual Studio is limited to what Microsoft supports. It sucks in bundling with nice open source languages and technologies that are widely available and present today.

There are Java, Perl, Python, Java Script, Ruby, etc that Visual Studio does not support.. open source tools such as Eclipse and NetBeans beat Visual Studio there.

Hell Visual studio cannot even use makefile C/C++ projects - that is serious downside. It makes a larger project with lots of specific and optional source files impossible to maintain in a single solution. Also only latest version of VS had support for the unit testing.

If you have a project that you build from the command line with a makefile, then the Visual Studio development environment will not recognize your project.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/txcwa2xx(VS.80).aspx

IMO NetBeans is best IDE thanks to high quality and ability to do so many things things for free ( Java, Java GUI building, terrific Java profiler, Java EE, C/C++, Ruby, Java Script, Mobility, PHP, etc) - and doing any of them exceptionally well. You'd be wondering why is it free?

In fact, developer.com voting contents thinks the same.

Winners of the Developer.com's Product of the Year 2008 Are Announced
Development Tool
And the winner is NetBeans IDE. It makes sense that if Java SE 6 is the most popular framework that the NetBeans IDE would follow along those same lines.
* Integrates all tools from developer, UML, Web Server, Servlet Container, Deploy, and now Ruby
* Eases development with the best out-of-the box experience and management
* Supports Java desktop, mobile, enterprise, and web application development as well as Ruby, C/C++, and JavaScript

http://www.developer.com/design/article.php/10925_3721761_1

So obviously if you are picking programming language you have more choice, but if you are set to C# you'd have to use Visual Studio; if you are gonna use Java it is gonna Be Eclipse, Netbeans or IntelliJ.

 

[Speedo]

Visual Studio is limited to what Microsoft supports. It sucks in bundling with nice open source languages and technologies that are widely available and present today.

Be that as it may, Visual Studio spanks the competition in so many other ways that there's really no competition for C/C++ under windows.

 

[Padma]

Be that as it may, Visual Studio spanks the competition in so many other ways that there's really no competition for C/C++ under windows.

Much as it pains me to admit it, I have to agree.


OTOH, I try to avoid developing for/with Windows, anyway.

 

[Shadylookin]

Much as it pains me to admit it, I have to agree.


OTOH, I try to avoid developing for/with Windows, anyway.

I've found developing for windows is a pain anyway. Windows puts kid gloves on you and doesn't come with any development tools. most linux distros come with a variety of them for all sorts of languages right out of the box, and they have a much more vibrant community to get help from.

 

[Speedo]

I've found developing for windows is a pain anyway. Windows puts kid gloves on you and doesn't come with any development tools. most linux distros come with a variety of them for all sorts of languages right out of the box, and they have a much more vibrant community to get help from.

Well... yeah. They're aimed at entirely different demographics. I'd be extremely suprised if even 1% of home-users who run only windows are do any real software development. For *nix home users, OTOH, I'd be suprised if the number was under 50%. It's a rather moot point anyway, since MS offers the VS Express versions now, plus all of the other free tools available.