newbie - why Pelles C?

[thadmiller]

I realize this is a Pelles C forum, so the answers might be prejudiced towards Pelles C, but I'd like to know your thoughts anyway.

I'm a VB/VB.Net/ASP/ASP.Net/JavaScript programmer by trade, but I'm also a hobbyist windows programmer at home.  On the hobby side, I've gone from VB to IBasic to BCX in the past couple years.  I don't like the run-times of VB, I don't like the personal problems IBasic now has, and I don't like that BCX isn't really its own language (no compiler/linker).  I've looked around for other basic-like languages to use as my hobby, but after being disappointed with everything I find, I'm considering switching over to C/C++.  I'm a bit concerned about the learning curve, but that's just something I'm going to have to do (or stick with basic forever).

The 2 flavors of C/C++ I have installed right now are Pelles C and Bloodshed Dev-C++.  Both seem to have well developed IDEs and active forums.  Pelles C's community seems much smaller, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - especially considering Pelle himself is active in this forum.

So my question is simply, why should I take the time with Pelles C vs. Dev-C++ vs. another C/C++?

What are the advantages of Pelles C?
What are the disadvantages of Pelles C?
What are some other C/C++ languages in the same class as Pelles C?
How do they compare?

Thanks for your time and responses!

-Thad

[Stefan Pendl]

Just to clarify, there is only one C and one C++ language.

The differences are in the IDEs, some have additional build in functions to make programming easier.

[DMac]

I am a VB.NET user and often needed to translate useful code snippets from C C++ to VB.NET.  I came across BCX and played around with it.  I thought it would be useful for making small stand-alone apps that did not require any runtimes.  BCX lead me to Peles C and the Peles IDE.  I liked the project wizards and the integrated dialog designer in the resource editor (Something BloodShed did not have).  I began coding in Peles C, gaining insight from the many C code samples here and on the net.  Sometimes I wanted to do something that I knew in Basic but not in C.  I used a BCX plug-in to the IDE to create small demo projects.  I translated the BCX Basic to C and then cut/modified/pasted what I needed into my C project.
Peles C IDE is very well done, and is a pleasure to use.  It is a great platform on which to learn C and in the end proves to be a great platform for everyday coding.
Peles C is ANSI C99 but not C++.  That said, I have been able to write some very nice, small, user-friendly applications with Peles.

[severach]

>Both seem to have well developed IDEs and active forums

The Dev-C++ forum is very active. The IDE is slowly dying as other IDE's surpass it.

>Pelles C's community seems much smaller

That's because the compiler doesn't support C++ where all the hoopla is.

>So my question is simply, why should I take the time with Pelles C vs. Dev-C++ vs. another C/C++?

Microsoft and Pelles have the best of the free C IDE debuggers. Microsoft supports C++ code and Pelles is fast and the entire compiler is 10MB. Your time with Pelles is not wasted because  the language is the same as any other compiler or IDE.

I like to let new programmers suffer with whatever they find first then when I think they are ready I give them Pelles so they can see how an IDE is supposed to work.

>The 2 flavors of C/C++ I have installed right now are Pelles C and Bloodshed Dev-C++

I lost interest in Dev-C++ when I found Code::Blocks. Dev-C++ only supports MinGW. Code::Blocks supports every free compiler they can find.

[SodaPop]

I've been using Pelles C for several years now, and it is fabulous. The really big drawback is the lack of a user guide. The documentation discusses C extensively, but almost nothing about the IDE itself. How do I link resources to Windows code? How do I set up a program for debugging? How do I extract myself from the ERROR IN EXPRESSION message? None of these are detailed in the help file, and I've spent a lot of time on forums to figure them out.  Pelle, write a user guide: your fans thirst for your knowledge and wisdom!

[Fred_Pyo]

Well, I have been using Pelles C for about half a year now (if I recall correctly). I dove into the world of C wit DevC++. It's was a nice first impression and it was free. One thing that I really love about it is how configurable the code highlighting is, different font, bold letter, etc...

But then I met Pelles C. At first I was a bit unconvinced about it. But when I met the resource editor (I had to work with WinAPI this last semester), I decided that Pelles C was the way to go. Later on I learned how to use all the tinkels and bells (like debugging a project).

I like Pelles C also because it loads a little bit faster than DevC++.

Not to mention, Pelles C has some of C99.