CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++cmingwc99
CodeCamper
CodeCamper

Reputation: 6984

MinGW Compiler for Windows, using GCC, C99 vs GNU99

I am using the MinGW compiler for Windows. I am making some programs in C. Most of the articles I read up on this seem to be outdated... last I read C99 was incomplete in the GCC is this still true? My real question is cross platform compatibility between setting C99 and GNU99... should I avoid using GNU99 setting and it's extensions and just stick with C99? I am new to this MinGW compiler set as I have always used Visual Studio and decided to try something new... right now I am compiling with these settings... 

-march=native -O3 -std=gnu99

Is there any recommended compiler commands I should enter for making C programs and also for making C++ programs with this compiler?

I want to make a simple program that is compatible with Windows, Mac, & Linux but first most Windows.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 5173

Answers (3)

Shafik Yaghmour
Shafik Yaghmour

Reputation: 158629

With respect to C, Visual Studio until recently did not support C99 at all.

With respect to gcc you can find a detailed detailed writeup on which standard they support and the nooks and crannies involved. They also have a nice list of extensions they support. You need to be a little careful with gcc and extensions because just specifying which standard you want to use is not enough to generate a warning or error when you are using an extension. For example you might be surprised that using:

gcc -std=c90 -W -Wall

allows you to use variable length arrays without a warning. In order to generate a warning you need to add -pedantic:

gcc -std=c90 -W -Wall -pedantic

and then this will generate a warning similar to this:

warning: ISO C90 forbids variable length array ‘array’ [-Wvla]

Upvotes: 1

Mats Petersson
Mats Petersson

Reputation: 129524

If you want something that compiles with "any" compiler, you should avoid the gnu99 setting, and use the c89, c99 or c11- and for C++ use c++03 or c++11 (or c++0x depending on which particular version of compiler it is). The later you go on these things, the more you restrict to "new versions of compilers".

The gnu99 means C99 with "GNU extensions", which means that code that compiles with this setting may not compile on other compilers.

You should definitely also apply -Wall, and I like to have -Wextra -Werror too. -Wall means enable (almost) all warnings, -Wextra means enable extra warnings beyond the ones in -Wall, and -Werror means that you HAVE to fix any warnings before you get any code ("treat warnings as errors").

Upvotes: 3

Yu Hao
Yu Hao

Reputation: 122493

Most of C99 feature has been supported by gcc, for detail see Status of C99 features in GCC.

Some GNU extensions are handy to use. Whether choosing between C99 and GNU99 depends on if you are going to use other compilers. But if you are thinking about Visual Studio, it doesn't support C99, so sticking to C89 is the choice if you are going back to Visual Studio later.

Upvotes: 1

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