Hi,

Some advice requested, maybe followed with assistance, pretty please.

I've been trying to get into c++ programming. Some years ago I used C#
with the Microsoft visual studio ide, but got fed up with .net, size of
programs, and the continuous updates. I then found free basic and a nice
ide, but recently I thought I would try c++, mainly because it should be
more or less compilable for any platform. However I am struggling with
the Microsoft implementation and the visual studio ide. It is far to
complex for what i want, and seems to be a none standard  version of
c++. As I've only two basic/out of dates books that cover c++, I find
that finding answers on the web is a very lengthy process. I have not
full confidence in the compiler, etc.

I am wondering, for those using windows, which compiler and ide you use,
hopefully one that is free/open-source. There are a few.

I used to use IBM visual age software, back in os2 days, and my
previously unopened  version of c++ for windows 95 will not install -
not surprised by that. (a side note, until recently, Microsoft had a
directory labelled os2 in the system files area, iirc. Apparently they
never understood the details of the IBM file  system after they parted
ways IBM/os2 had -HPFS, Ms renamed it NTFS.)

Anyway, the question is, what c++ compiler and development ide for
windows do you use?. (Linux users , - I'm sticking with windows)

Best wishes,

Ray

I use GCC under MSYS2 with the MINGW64 build environment, because that's
the build environment for OpenSCAD.

I'm a very experienced C programmer, but only maybe a bit more than an
advanced beginner when it comes to C++.  My initial question is ... why
would you want to do this to yourself?  C++ is unquestionably very
powerful and flexible, but my impression so far is that that power and
flexibility come with a cost in complexity that exceeds their value.  I
don't think I would even consider C++ for a personal project.  I would
use JavaScript, Python, or Java, probably in that order.  JavaScript is
less ubiquitous than Python for conventional development, but has the
huge advantage of running in browsers.  (I use Node.js for non-browser
JavaScript.)  My current big personal project
https://github.com/jordanbrown0/reg3 is almost entirely JavaScript.

Thanks for your replies. It looks like gcc may be useful. I am sort of
familiar with notepad++, but may use visual studio code as an editor (it
is different than the actual full visual studio ide). I've  used it for
editing Marlin, and similar C/ C++ for various microprocessors. I want
something that produces small .exes. I've not tried C for windows
programming, but if that does what I want, then that'll do. I never
liked c++, trying to lever in ood/p into something not designed for it,
compared to Smalltalk, or for purists, Eiffel. Anyway, I found
free-basic made quite small progs, with a useable graphic interface.
Here's a scaler thing, which may be of interest/use. Ignore the w10
installation warning.  http://www.yertiz.com/cnc/scaler5.htm. I wrote
that back in the days of window's phone, and Microsoft royally screwed
up that, too.

wrt gcc, I found this.
https://feaforall.com/install-c-language-gcc-compiler-windows/ At first
glance it looks as if i may understand how to do it - there are pictures!

Thanks,

Best wishes,

Ray