Why you shouldn’t use Dev-C++ « Unrefined Awesome

Why you shouldn’t use Dev-C++ « Unrefined Awesome

December 18, 2008

1. Dev-C++ has not been updated since 2005 and is not currently maintained. Given the availability of newer software packages the majority of the programming community has moved on from Dev-C++, making it hard (sometimes impossible) to find help with any issues you may have. Bugs which are currently present in the software are unlikely to ever be fixed; according to the SourceForge listing, at the time of writing there are 340 known bugs.
2. The “devpack” system provided for working with 3rd party libraries is no longer maintained or supported by many libraries, leading to Devpacks either being unavailable or out of date in many cases. When not working with one of these packages it can be difficult and non-obvious how to otherwise get 3rd party code working in the Dev-C++ environment.

Given the availability of free alternatives it’s amazing anyone still clings to this outdated beast, and frankly quite ridiculous that it ever ends up in the hands of anyone who is just now starting out. To finish up, what are those free alternatives?

1. Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition is by far the best option when it comes to Windows-based IDEs; it costs nothing, allows commercial distribution of products, and is a fully featured solution including excellent debugging facilities.
2. Code::Blocks fills the void once occupied by Dev-C++ as an alternative solution, and can also be used on other platforms. An excellent alternative to the higher-quality MS solution.
3. For those who really want a simpler environment, your compiler of choice in combination with Programmer’s Notepad or a similar solution is a far better choice than the outdated and unsupported Dev-C++.
4. For those who just can’t let Dev-C++ go, the wxDev-C++ project is an updated version with less bugs and a few additional features. I’ve not personally used this and see no real reason why given the excellent options from MS or Code::Blocks, but from what I’m told it works acceptably.

小D：也就是說Dev-C++太舊了，從2005年到2008年12月這段期間就沒更新了，
而Dev-C++ 5到現在也還沒出，
我去看Dev-C++在sourceforge上的release date：

Release Date: 2005-03-17

可見到今天2010年4月26日也還沒更新！
如還不想放棄Dev-C++，建議用wxDev-C++