Codewarrior Pro 8 vs Visual Studio .NET 2000/2003 ?

#1 Codewarrior Pro: Multiple platforms. More or less the same environment for PC, Mac, and some consoles.

Codewarrior Con: Suffers from Adobe/Macromedia syndrome a bit. the UI doesn't really feel like a Windows application, even on Windows.



Visual Studio .Net 2003 Pro: One of the very best standards compliant C++ compilers you can get. Microsoft has taken it a long way from VC 6.0. The optimizations available at both compile and link time are hard to beat. I really love the editor. Intellisense really works well now, I like the section folding, etc. This is somewhat of a personal opinion and not objective, so YMMV on the editor issue.

VS .Net 2003 Con: Cost. It is a shame Microsoft doesn't have an unbundled version of just the C++ part of VS.Net 2003 that has a full optimizer (the Visual C++ .Net product they sell for ~$150 does not do optimizations). In comparison to CW8 specifically this isn't too much of a con since Codewarrior 8 is pretty pricey itself at about $600. You can find VS .Net 2003 for about $700 or so if you look on places like ebay. If you can afford it you might want to consider getting an MSDN subscription rather than just one license for VS .Net 2003. Overall it is a better value, but hovering just under $2000 it might be too pricey for most folks.


IMO, if Windows is your main focus use VS .Net 2003 if you can afford it. If you plan on supporting lots of other platforms, Codewarrior Pro might help you out a bit, though it isn't that hard to develop mostly under Windows and create makefiles that use gcc for the other platforms like Linux and Mac.

#2 Nice features...you can compiling Windows and Mac* in one PC.


CodeWarrior Development Tools for Windows, v8


Detailed Features


Languages
· C/C++
· Java

Integrated Development Environment
· Project Manager
· Multi-functional editor
· Code completion for C, C++ and Java
· Docking windows
· Workspaces
· MFC' v6.0 and ATL 3.0 support
· Industry leading ANSI/ISO C/C++ compiler
· JDK 1.4 and 1.3 support
· Java RAD Tools (JDK 1.3 Support)
· Graphical file compare and merge
· Advanced search engine
· Class browser
· Supports Win32 structured exception handling
· Code generation for all processors through Pentium IV and Athlon XP
· Dead code stripping and code optimizations
· Thread safe Metrowerks standard libraries
· New Debug-Mode STL
· Integrated debugger with remote debugging capabilities
· Locale support for Unicode/UTF-8 file I/O
· Command line tools
· Import/Export IDE settings in XML
· Customizable toolbars and key bindings
· Open API for integrating 3rd-party tools
· Online documentation with examples
· CVS/VSS plugin
· *Mac OS Cross Compilers

#3 Thanks for the intelligent feedback.

All in all they seem about equal . . .

I am concerned about the code completion for C++, how does this stack up to Visual Studio .Net with Visual Assist?

And support for templates, I just started Modern C++ Design for the second time and the light bulb really went off this time :)

Policy based design would really clean up alot of code bases, Torques especially.

#4 I can't speak for CW8 since I've never really given CodeWarrior a workout as far as templated code goes, but one of the primary objectives for Visual Studio .Net 2003 was to make it so standards compliant that it can compile Loki (which I'm sure you're familiar with if you're reading Modern C++ Design), Boost and Blitz out of the box.

Against C++ conformance tests, VS.Net 2003 scores a 98% (still doesn't support export keyword, but who does?). Very few C++ compilers out there are even in the same league as VS.Net 2003's C++ compiler when it comes to standards support, and of those that are (like Comeau C++) they tend to be lacking in terms of hardcore optimizations and such that are useful for game developers.

I must admit, I'm a bit of a Microsoft fanboy when it comes to development tools, which would surprise the "me" of a couple of years ago quite a bit. They've really done quite an outstanding job migrating from the horror show of Visual C++ 5.0 to the wonderful VS .Net 2003.

#5 Wait for... Visual Studio .Net 2004 (Codename Whidbey) beta

Microsoft this week released the first beta of its "Whidbey" version of Visual Studio .Net.

At VSLive in New York, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant gave its first demonstration of the next-generation Visual Studio platform for Microsoft's upcoming "Yukon" database.

Eric Rudder, senior vice president of servers and tools at Microsoft, said improving data access and simplifying development on the Yukon wave of products are major goals of the Whidbey release, which is expected to coincide with the release of Yukon in late 2004.

The new Windows client application development data and user interface controls and ASP.Net controls in Whidbey will reduce code development in common situations by as much as 70 percent, Rudder said, adding that the efficient code development capabilities will enable developers and solution providers to get business solutions to market more quickly.

For instance, the integration of another new capability--the "My Classes" set of abstractions--will enable Visual Basic Developers to access database resources more easily, Rudder said. "We're trying to reduce the code developers have to write," he said.


Source winbeta

Source crn

OR Visual Studio .NET 2005 (Codename ORCAS)

The Whidbey release of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework will represent a significant milestone in the Microsoft developer tools roadmap. Following the SQL Server Yukon and Visual Studio Whidbey wave of products, the next major platform update will be the Windows operating system release codenamed Longhorn. The Whidbey release of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework will run on this landmark operating system release, as will applications built with Visual Studio Whidbey.
In addition, the subsequent release to Whidbey, Visual Studio Orcas, will support the managed interfaces, enhanced UI features, and other new capabilities of the Longhorn operating system. These include the Longhorn trustworthy computing and security model, new application model, improved communication and collaboration, integrated data storage, and innovations in presentation and media. As more information about Longhorn and Orcas becomes available in the coming months, this document will be updated.

With the launch of Visual Studio .NET 2002 and the .NET Framework 1.0, Microsoft introduced a unified programming model, new and enhanced programming languages, and its most integrated and powerful developer toolset ever. One year later, Visual Studio .NET 2003 and version 1.1 of the .NET Framework build on the strength of the initial release and deliver unprecedented integration with the Windows Server 2003 operating system. Moving forward, Microsoft will continue this trend of integrating managed code support in major product releases first with SQL Server Yukon and later in the Windows Longhorn operating system.
Over the course of this product roadmap, Microsoft plans a steady stream of innovation in both tools and framework, offering the businesses of today and tomorrow premier tools with which to meet their evolving business needs. Microsoft will continue its commitment to delivering productive tools that help customers take maximum advantage of the underlying platform and achieve success while building a wide range of software solutions.

Source bink

#6 Thanks Francisco but waiting is not an option, I don't buy into Microsofts FUD marketing one bit, and to get something done right now something that might come out late next year is not an option anyway, and database access is not what I am looking to do, I have Java for "general" development efforts, I am more concerned with hardcore C++/Python game development than the next "bell and whistle" for VB developers.

The .Net framework has zero interest for me as does C# and VB.

I am going to take a look at CW8 just to have a look, but I will probably stay with VS2k3, because the things George mentions are important C++ standards conformance.

#7 Just as a side note, C# is absolutly awesome for any kind of windows GUI app development. It's like Visual Basic only useful. I wanted to be able to change songs in winamp from my gamepad using the bottom 2 triggers while playing Mutant Storm, and I whipped out a program in C# in no time at all that sampled DInput and sent window messages to the Winamp Window to do winamp functions.

Very useful.