2. Recommended C++ Compilers

The current C++ standard adopted by ISO and ANSI was first finalized in 1997, this means that not all compilers are up to pace yet, and not supporting all features - it is extremely important that you get a standard compliant C++ compiler.

2.1 Compilers for MS Windows 2000/NT/95/98/ME/XP

Since MS Windows is quite popular for C++ development, the String class library given in this document works well and runs very well on all the versions of MS Windows i.e. MS Win XP/2000/NT/95/98/ME. The C++ compilers for MS Windows are:

• Redhat Cygwin GNU gcc compiler http://www.cygwin.com and mirror Redhat cygwin.
• GNU BloodShed at http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html
• Borland C++ compiler http://www.borland.com/bcppbuilder/freecompiler
• Microsoft Visual C++ compiler http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc
• MSDOS C++ compiler http://www.delorie.com/djgpp
• http://www.digitalmars.com

2.2 Compilers for UNIX systems and clones

In a GNU world, you will always be best off with GCC (GNU Compiler Collection), GCC is distributed with most Linux distributions, FreeBSD and most other UNIX clones. The GCC homepage is located at http://gcc.gnu.org. The latest version of GCC (3.0) is one of the most standards compliant compilers out there.