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Subject: Re: Fastest freeware C++ compiler?

Author: Hristo

Date: 02:10:42 12/14/03

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On December 14, 2003 at 04:56:12, Georg v. Zimmermann wrote:

>On December 14, 2003 at 04:43:20, Russell Reagan wrote:
>
>>On December 14, 2003 at 01:16:48, Mike Carter wrote:
>>
>>>I'm working on a chess engine and the compiler I have does not seem to optimize
>>>for speed.  Can anyone tell me what C++ freeware compiler creates the fastest
>>>executables?  Thanks!
>>
>>I used to use Microsoft Visual C++ 6 Professional (because I got it for $5 from
>>my school, it's normally several hundred at least). I quit using it when I saw
>>that the executable that gcc/g++ created was significantly faster than the
>>executable that MSVC++ 6 Pro created.
>
>That sounds almost impossible to me :). Even with just the default switches it
>ought at least not be slower ...

If you use exceptions MSVC 6.0 incurs a hit and in my experience it generates
slower executables compared to g++ (2.95). Perhaps there is a switch that makes
C++ related stuff go faster ...
I'm not sure how well .Net C++ compiles exceptions and templates, however,  just
comparing the overall feel of the executables .Net seems to be doing a better
job.

Regards,
Hristo

>
>> Of course, VC++ 6 is over 5 years old by
>>now. The point is, gcc/g++ does a pretty decent job of optimizing these days. I
>>think it got some bad press from earlier versions, but it is much better at
>>optimizing than it used to be. Of course, the latest Intel compiler and
>>Microsoft compiler will be faster, but they'll also cost you a few hundred bucks
>>(at least).
>>
>>I heard that the Intel C++ compiler was free for non-commercial use
>
>no
>
>>, or for
>>Linux.
>
>yes
>
>> I was able to find it for Linux, but I was not able to get it to install
>>at all. I couldn't find a non-commercial free version for Windows.
>
>There isnt one.
>
>> Maybe I
>>didn't look hard enough. I also don't know if this version supports optimization
>>(since I wasn't able to test it out).
>
>there is no free windows version, but the 30day trial does support full
>optimization. I guess the linux version does, too.
>
>
>> The reason I question that is because you
>>can also get the Microsoft C++ compiler for free, but the free version doesn't
>>do any optimization.
>>
>>You might try the Dev-C++ IDE, which uses the MinGW C++ compiler (gcc). For a
>>free deal, it's pretty nice. I use cygwin myself (when on Windows), and good old
>>gcc/vi/make when in Linux.



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