generating C++ executable for Windows/ GUI question

felson · #1 07-25-2007, 02:32 PM

I wrote a C++ program which I compiled on my Mac via gcc. It has a simple command-line interface. Is there an easy way for me to compile on my Windows PC and send the executable to others?

Also, I'd like to add a GUI for the program -- nothing fancy, just some clickable buttons and a window for text output. Does anyone have somewhere I can look to get started?

Thanks!

nuclear500 · #2 07-25-2007, 05:27 PM

A Mac command line?

Oh wait thats right, Macs are running a PC operating system now. I forgot. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I'm sure the same GCC compiler is available for Windows and very little if anything would have to be done to make it work on a PC as for converting it to a GUI?

You can try out http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express and see how it works out for you. Definitely a transition in making code changes and how it operates. No more stdout and stdin!

Neuge · #3 07-25-2007, 11:19 PM

For GUIs, wxWidgets. It's a C++ class library that really makes GUI programming easy and portable.

pokergrader · #4 07-26-2007, 03:59 AM

wxWidgets is pretty nice when it comes to windows GUIs. I think QT is a little easier and more powerful, but it isn't free for commercial use like wxWidgets. However if your program is non-commercial, I believe QT allows free usage as long as you license the code as GPL.

However if the code isn't so complex, rewriting it in Java will make it much easier to create a workable GUI (cross-platform too!).

And as nuclear500 alluded to, GUI programming is way more complex than just command line stuff until you get the hang of it.

Neuge · #5 07-26-2007, 04:23 AM

[ QUOTE ]
wxWidgets is pretty nice when it comes to windows GUIs. I think QT is a little easier and more powerful, but it isn't free for commercial use like wxWidgets. However if your program is non-commercial, I believe QT allows free usage as long as you license the code as GPL.

However if the code isn't so complex, rewriting it in Java will make it much easier to create a workable GUI (cross-platform too!).

And as nuclear500 alluded to, GUI programming is way more complex than just command line stuff until you get the hang of it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Personally, though I've never done much Java programming, I think using the wxWidgets bindings in Python is by far the easiest way to create workable GUIs. There are QT bindings as well.

pokergrader · #6 07-26-2007, 08:12 PM

I have never used python but I hear it is good stuff, and I have seen sample wxWidgets code using python and it looks really nice. This sounds like a good idea.

Java GUI programming though is pretty good too, provided you don't mind Java.

felson · #7 07-26-2007, 08:25 PM

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think I'm going to learn Java!

LeapFrog · #8 07-26-2007, 10:20 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think I'm going to learn Java!

[/ QUOTE ]

Check out the Eclipse ide

Neuge · #9 07-27-2007, 03:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think I'm going to learn Java!

[/ QUOTE ]
I strongly suggest you take up Python, something I would recommend to anyone just taking up a new scripting language. It's a much easier and cleaner language than Java.

You can get the Enthought edition with the best editors and most to all of the popular packages in one install (though a lot are mathematical tools).