Gcc\mingw\cygwin\msys Introduction

I. History of GCC
GCC is a compiler that was originally programmed for unix-like systems. Now, however, GCC also has a number of ported versions under Win32.
so, perhaps, for many Windows developers, GCC is a strange thing to do.
So, I hope that through this chapter of the narrative, you-a Windows developer to the GCC this excellent compiler has a general understanding.
GCC is a project of the GNU commune. is a free compiler for programming development.
Initially, GCC was just a C compiler, and he was the abbreviation for GNU C Compiler.
with the addition of many free developers and the development of GCC itself, today's GCC is a compiler with many languages.
These include C,c++,ada,object C and Java. Therefore, GCC also changed from the original GNU C Compiler to the GNU Compiler Collection.
that's what the GNU compiler family means. Of course, today's GCC features a cross compiler that compiles the code of another platform under one platform.
until now, the history of GCC continues, and his legend is still known.
second, the GCC family under Windows
Initially, GCC was the compiler for the unix,unix-like system.
However, there is now a stable ported version of GCC under Windows.
This is thanks to the concerted efforts of many programmers on the Internet.
today, there are three main GCC porting versions that are popular under Windows. They are Mingw,cygwin and DJGPP.
Although DJGPP is applied to DOS systems, the DJGPP is also included in consideration of Windows compatibility with DOS.
In General, Mingw,cygwin and DJGPP each have their own characteristics, for different applications, you can choose different transplant version to meet the needs.
the main direction of MinGW is to enable GCC's Windows transplant version to be programmed using WIN32API.
The goal of Cygwin is to allow the program code under Unix-like to be compiled directly under Windows.
DJGPP is to make it possible to use GCC under DOS.
so, for different needs of developers. Choosing the right transplant will make your work easier and more efficient.
third, introduce separately
MinGW
minimalistic GNU for Windows.
She is a compiler system built on GCC and binutils projects. Compared to other GCC transplant versions, she is the closest to Win32.
because, MinGW almost supports all the WIN32API, this is also one of the characteristics of MinGW.
The program she is connected to can run without any third-party libraries.
To some extent, MinGW is more like a substitute for VC.
Official website: http://www.mingw.org
Cygwin
is not actually a gcc. She is the software that lets windows have a unix-like environment.
So, GCC will naturally be included in it.
However, for developers, Cygwin is a development environment. And for the user, Cygwin is a running environment.
The biggest difference between Cygwin and MinGW is that Cygwin can be used to downgrade the Unix-like system functions in Windows.
such as process functions, and so on. So, although Cygwin is running under windows, she still uses the functions and ideas of the unix-like system.
Official website: http://www.cygwin.com/
MSYS
unix-like command line utilities
includes basic bash, make, gawk and grep, and more. It is also common to think of small Unix on Windows. Provides the emulation UNIX environment on Windows to use MinGW.
Msys-cn:http://code.google.com/p/msys-cn/msys
China release, developing Windows programs with the UNIX development environment.
Msys simulates a Unix-like terminal under Windows, which provides only mingw user loading environments and uses MinGW in Msys simulated UNIX environments, just like using GCC on UNIX.

Gcc\mingw\cygwin\msys Introduction