Different C++ Compilers

[Spirrwell]

Currently I am using Windows Vista Home Premium as an operating system and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional (student edition) as my compiler. By student edition I mean I got it from Microsoft Dreamspark to get free Microsoft programs because I am a student. I was wondering, is this the best compiler for C++? Also eventually I may not have access to the Dreamspark website (not sure) what freely available C++ compilers are there available, I used to use DevC++ by Bloodshed, but a lot of their packages aren't downloadable any more. I just want to know what type of options that I may have in the future.

[helios]

For Windows, yes, it's one of the best compilers.
For other options, see http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/articles/7263/

My personal recommendation is Visual C++ 2008 for large projects, MinGW 3.x for quick tests, and MinGW 4.x for large projects when VC++ has compatibility problems with some compiled library (rare, but happens occasionally).

[Vexer]

Also, VS2010 is out, and I recommend you go ahead and get that version instead of 2008.

[jwxie518]

Personally I am not a big fan of VS products. Very often MS allowed non-standard exceptions and its compiler will not complain about it.

If you are a student, you should consider using jGRASP (completely free, and use MinGW or any compiler...).

In the end it's still a personal preference, and how much those IDE features you need to use for your project.

[Disch]

Personally I am not a big fan of VS products. Very often MS allowed non-standard exceptions and its compiler will not complain about it.

That's a bogus reason. All [popular] compilers have nonstandard extensions.

[firedraco]

All [popular] compilers have nonstandard extensions.

Indeed. Besides, if they have nonstandard extensions, there is usually an option to turn them off.