-Latest Version Roadmap?

[tgucm]

( sorry in advance if you feel i've posted this in the wrong forum, please move this topic if you feel it best )

Hi,

I'm new to C++ ( currently studying, started this past week ) and i've been looking for various cross-plstform C++ IDE's

I have msvc2010 express but not very satisfied with it, at the moment.  I have been heavily considering building a Linux box and using GCC but then I found CodeBlocks!  From reading over it; CodeBlocks looks and seems like just the right thing for me  


I just had a couple questions if I could:

1:  Version 10.05; is there a new version planned for 2012 by chance? ( this is why i posted in this forum )

2:  Would someone please explain to me what the two versions mean?
     [ codeblocks-10.05-setup.exe vs codeblocks-10.05mingw-setup.exe ]
     I tried looking up minGW but as i'm completely new to this I just don't seem to understand O:-)

3:  Is it true that I could write my C++ programs once and then compile/link to Windows/Mac/Linux? ( how to do this? )

3b:  Could I use CodeBlocks to compile/link to android/kindle/ios?


Many thanks in advance!
-ucm

Win7-64bit
8gb ddr3
ATI 5770HD

[MortenMacFly]

1:  Version 10.05; is there a new version planned for 2012 by chance? ( this is why i posted in this forum )

Yes, in the meantime feel free to use nightly builds - they cover all the improvements made in the meantime.

2:  Would someone please explain to me what the two versions mean?
     [ codeblocks-10.05-setup.exe vs codeblocks-10.05mingw-setup.exe ]
     I tried looking up minGW but as i'm completely new to this I just don't seem to understand O:-)

One is bundled with the MinGW compiler suite, the other is just the IDE alone, you'll need to provide a compiler of your choice. However, if you are on Windows7 you'll need to use a later version of MinGW as the one bundled. At the time Code::Blocks was released there was no Windows 7 and the bundlled compiler has known incompatibilities. You can search the forum for alternatives, as easy to install as C::B.

3:  Is it true that I could write my C++ programs once and then compile/link to Windows/Mac/Linux? ( how to do this? )

Yes, so do we with C::B. It's rather easy for console applications, for GUI applications you should use a cross platform framework like wxWidgets.

3b:  Could I use CodeBlocks to compile/link to android/kindle/ios?

I don't exactly know their target compilers, if its GCC based then most likely yes, for iOS I see a license issue as you'll need a Mac or at least a proper version of the iOS SDK / compiler. This does not come for free. I don't know how kindle handles that, but Kindle is somewhat different anyways. However, such embedded OS'es usually ship with a very strong optimised IDE for just that target (usually nothing else) that I personally would recommend to use (so do the OS makers).

[tgucm]

Super Awesome! 

Many thanks for the detailed explainations, MortenMacFly!

On the nightly builds; I imagine after all this time there have been a ton of fixes/patches but I have always been quite werry of installing software that hasn't been fully determined as 'stable'.. That said; of the nightly builds, is there a particular version you would recommend as pretty stable from your perspective?


On question 2; I think i understand now, the IDE with MinGW sounds like the smart way to get started from the novice point...
Would you recommend to install codeblocks-10.05mingw-setup.exe first and then perform an upgrade to the latest MinGW compiler or would there be another way to have it work on win7 ?

Also big thanks for your explation of my 3b question!!  I 'think' android is a modified version of linux so i am wondering if it would work there..  Well i'll just have to give a try wont i 


I also forgot to ask a question 4: is there a way to make sure only ANSI-Compliant or native C++ librarys and code are used for a particular project which is destoned for cross-platform accross Windows/Mac/Linux ?  For instance not using the .NET framework or maybe half of a library...

[Alpha]

On the nightly builds; I imagine after all this time there have been a ton of fixes/patches but I have always been quite werry of installing software that hasn't been fully determined as 'stable'.. That said; of the nightly builds, is there a particular version you would recommend as pretty stable from your perspective?

I would suggest using the most recent one (or compiling your own from the subversion repository if you feel up to it!); if you run into any instabilities, you can simply report them on the forums/bug tracker for someone to look into.
Also, nightlies are not exactly installed (unless you use the unofficial installer), just extracted to any location you want; you can delete it if it does something you do not like.
(I have only ever had Code::Blocks crash when I wrote unstable code in a plugin I was creating, and if I tried to click too fast while Code::Blocks was still loading.)

Would you recommend to install codeblocks-10.05mingw-setup.exe first and then perform an upgrade to the latest MinGW compiler or would there be another way to have it work on win7 ?

I would suggest installing MinGW (or some other build of it like TDM-GCC, which is what Code::Blocks ships with on Windows) first.  Then installing from codeblocks-10.05-setup.exe (or a nightly).

I also forgot to ask a question 4: is there a way to make sure only ANSI-Compliant or native C++ librarys and code are used for a particular project which is destoned for cross-platform accross Windows/Mac/Linux ?  For instance not using the .NET framework or maybe half of a library...

You can check the GCC docs (specifically C Dialect Options and C++ Dialect Options) for all the options.  The one you might be looking for is:
-ansi

[MortenMacFly]

On the nightly builds; I imagine after all this time there have been a ton of fixes/patches but I have always been quite werry of installing software that hasn't been fully determined as 'stable'.. That said; of the nightly builds, is there a particular version you would recommend as pretty stable from your perspective?

Always the last one. That what I (we) use in daily environment. And surely every nightly is better than 10/05 meanwhile.

[MortenMacFly]

Ooops - pressed "Post" too fast.

install codeblocks-10.05mingw-setup.exe first and then perform an upgrade to the latest MinGW compiler or would there be another way to have it work on win7 ?

Install the version w/o compiler, then download the setup for MinGW from tdragon (here: http://tdm-gcc.tdragon.net/download) and adjust C::B to find that compiler by setting the toolchain paths in the compiler options correctly.

I also forgot to ask a question 4: is there a way to make sure only ANSI-Compliant or native C++ librarys and code are used for a particular project which is destoned for cross-platform accross Windows/Mac/Linux ?  For instance not using the .NET framework or maybe half of a library...

ANSI compliant is a good limitation but surely being cross-platform doesn't restrict you to ANSI. The best thing you can do is using 3rd party cross platform frameworks like boost, wxWidgets or alike depending on your target application.

Besides: I think there is a (GCC) compiler switch that check for ANSI correctness, I just forgot how its called and cannot look atm.

[tgucm]

install codeblocks-10.05mingw-setup.exe first and then perform an upgrade to the latest MinGW compiler or would there be another way to have it work on win7 ?

Install the version w/o compiler, then download the setup for MinGW from tdragon (here: http://tdm-gcc.tdragon.net/download) and adjust C::B to find that compiler by setting the toolchain paths in the compiler options correctly.

Many thanks for that!!

I also forgot to ask a question 4: is there a way to make sure only ANSI-Compliant or native C++ librarys and code are used for a particular project which is destoned for cross-platform accross Windows/Mac/Linux ?  For instance not using the .NET framework or maybe half of a library...

ANSI compliant is a good limitation but surely being cross-platform doesn't restrict you to ANSI. The best thing you can do is using 3rd party cross platform frameworks like boost, wxWidgets or alike depending on your target application.

ahhh, i misunderstood what ANSI-compliance means; i re-read my book (Sams Teach Yourself C++ in One Hour a Day (pg:15) ) ""The ANSI standard is an attempt to ensure that C++ is portable--ensuring, for example, that ANSI-standard-compliant code you write for Microsoft's compiler will compile without errors using a compiler from any other vendor.""

Right; so i'll be using libraries from third party cross-platform frameworks then as i'm primarily going for windows/mac/linux(android and kindle if i can )

I've looked some at boost and just downloaded Nov 15th 2011's v1.48 last night so still some reading up to do.



wxWidgets:

1:  Is this how we achieve windowed forms on non-windows systems with our C++ programs or..?

2:  where do i get this or is it part of boost?

[tgucm]

@Alpha: Sorry i missed your post there!

I've never done anything with a subversion repository before.  Are those for betas of bugfixes or.. ?

Also, nightlies are not exactly installed (unless you use the unofficial installer), just extracted to any location you want; you can delete it if it does something you do not like.
(I have only ever had Code::Blocks crash when I wrote unstable code in a plugin I was creating, and if I tried to click too fast while Code::Blocks was still loading.)

ahh thanks for that, i think i'll get the latest nightly build when i get back home later tonight.
^-- Is there a list of current Windows7 or ATI issues/bugs i can take a look at before i install tonight?

[Alpha]

I've never done anything with a subversion repository before.  Are those for betas of bugfixes or.. ?

This is Code::Blocks' source code at its current state - everything a developer has committed can be accessed from there (almost) real-time.  Using it would involve compiling Code::Blocks yourself on your computer.
If it is only C++ you are new to, I would suggest doing this; it allows you to have complete control over your configuration, and the ability to modify (patch) any behavior you want (see Installing Code::Blocks from source).
However, if you are new to programming altogether, you may decide to wait some time before attempting this.

[tgucm]

Check out the nightlies!

Many Thanks! Guys