Program in C++ on Windows NT or Windows 95 using a free compiler. If you are new to GNU or Win32 programming with GNU you may get something out of a visit my Win32 Programming with GNU Tools Tutorial or by downloading it as a .zip file. Its still under construction, but may be of some use.
The Minimalist GNU Win32 Package is not a compiler or a compiler suite.
The Minimalist GNU Win32 Package (or Mingw) is simply a set of header files and initialization code which allows a GNU compiler to link programs with one of the C run-time libraries provided by Microsoft. By default it uses CRTDLL, which is built into all Win32 operating systems. This means that your programs are small, stand-alone, and reasonably quick. I personally believe it is a good option for programmers who want to do native Win32 programming, either of new code or when creating a native port of an application. For example, the latest versions of gcc itself, along with many of the supporting utilities, can be compiled using the Mingw headers and libraries.
Download the latest Mingw files, including the GNU Compiler Suite (GCC) from the Mingw project at Sourceforge.
Mingw was mentioned (in passing, down near the bottom... but that's enough for me) in an interview at O'Reilly. Aside from another mention in a Japanese magazine called "C Magazine" (as a sidebar in an article about Cygwin) this is only the second time I know of that Mingw was mentioned by any 'serious' media. Neat huh?
These are old and only of historical interest. Real developers interested in the source code should get the much newer Mingw runtime from Sourceforge.
The Cygwin Project by Cygnus Solutions is an attempt to provide a UNIX programming environment on Win32 operating systems. As part of this effort the suite of GNU software development tools (including gcc, the GNU C/C++ compiler) has been ported to Win32. The Cygwin project lead directly to the first versions of gcc that could produce Win32 software and allowed me to set up the first version of Mingw32.
For more information on Cygwin, including where to download it and how to subscribe to the Cygwin mailing list, visit the Cygwin Project Page.
Also try this page for more information about GNU programming tools on Win32, and how to install and use them.
I would like to list a bunch of them but... this is all I could find.
Under Construction...
A tutorial on how use GNU tools and other free tools to write Win32 programs.
Written by Colin Peters.
This page was last modified on Friday, June 30, 2001.