lcc

A fairly good C/C++ compiler for Windows 9x/NT. It has an IDE with project management, syntax highlighting, fully featured debugger, and templates. It doesn't however have a drag and drop style interface designer like C++ Builder has. Did I mention it's free?

The nice and sweet compiler Enzondio is referring to is LCC-Win32 (well, actually the wedit IDE that is part of LCC-Win32). LCC-Win32, however, also runs on Windows 3.11 with win32s installed. LCC is extremely portable, and fast to boot! For example, lcc compiles itself in 36 seconds on a 90 MHz Pentium running GNU/Linux. Gcc takes 68 seconds to compile the same program with the default compiler options and 130 seconds with the highest level of optimization.¹

I am also unaware of exactly what LCC stands for, but I have seen suggestions such as "Limited C Compiler", "Literate C Compiler", and the quite obviously wrong "Linux C Compiler".

According to the propaganda I've read, LCC was developed in Princeton in the Computer Sciences Dept, and was known to the public around 1988, but was developed far before that in the free, open-source manner we all love.

But RMS works at MIT - So that can't be possible. *evil grin*

¹Christopher W. Fraser, David R. Hanson: "Compile C Faster on Linux", Linux Journal 05/96

* Note: There was a level of sarcasm involved in this. Don't take certain parts too seriously.