Wx-Dev-C++ : Open Source Wxwidget IDE

Dev-C++ is the most promising IDE for learning C++ that gives you with mingw(source),package manager,devpaks & more features.But best of all it is free,thats why it is the most downloaded IDE from sourceforge.But there has been no news for this IDE since last version beta 5.In the meantime guru cathiresan came up with Wx-DevC++,fork of Dev-C++ that has support for wxwidget.It combines IDE with form designer,that supports Mingw & MSVC 2005.Apart from that WxDevC++ continues to adapt some good features of DevC++ like Devpaks,generic C++, virtual classes, and references.In this article
you can find installation & customization of IDE.At the time of writing i used the version 6.10 Final.In the next article i’ll look into few examples with WxDevC++.

Downloading & Installation
The first thing you need to do is point your browser over to WxDevC++.At this site check the menu in the left side then Click on “Download” link.This will take you to the Sourceforge Mirror list or even version selection page.Choose the stable version & begin download. If possible try to download alpha release from the joel & tony’s mirrors.Once download starts,save it to proper folder on your disk.After finishing downloading,double click on it to start the installer. Follow the instructions on the screen,and you should be ready.At the end of installer it will open up the IDE & SofT’s PDF for getting started with WxDev-C++.

Programming with Wx-Dev-C++

As Wx-Dev-C++ is a fork of Dev-C++,you can create individual C++” source file” instead of “project”.Go to the “File” menu and select “New Source File” OR Go to the “Project” menu and select “New File”.

If you want to create simple console application then Go to the
“File” menu and select “New”, “Project”,Choose “Console Application” and make sure “C++ project” is selected.Give your project a suitable name and click on “Ok”.This will open up the new source file for Console application with default source code shown below:

#include “cstdlib”

#include “iostream”

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])

{

system(“PAUSE”);return EXIT_SUCCESS;

}

This code will produce empty console application,that will pause the console till you press any key on keyboard.Now you can write your code under function int main().

If you want to try out the Form designer feature then i suggest you to go through the SofT’s Tutorial.There you will learn about the Wxwidget frame design,this is nice tutorial will make you comfortable with wxdevcpp form designer.

DevPaks

If you are thinking about the Devpaks to add with WxDevC++ then point yourself to devpaks.org website.Here packages are listed in various categories like GUI,GTK,direct x,OpenGL etc.They are made for Dev-C++,as WXDevC++ is fork of it so they will work fine under this IDE.If you are unsure which Devpak you are looking for then you can ask for help at here. Wx-DevC++ is developed very rapidly with many features shown below & will be added in their next release.

• Code Folding
• Multiple Compiler support
• Drag & Drop support for 3rd party Wxwidgets components
• wxAUI component
• Image List component

Getting Help & Supppot

If you have any questions or bugs then you can get your answers from SofT’s Wx-DevC++ PDF.If you are not satisfied then you can get your questions answered from Aditsu [FAQ*now removed by brinkster].If you found any bug or have problems with compiler post it on their Forum,I hope above information helps. Note:Please don’t ask me about homework problems & project request in C++ ,Don’t post here with your projects such as “Send me program for rat in maze on my email address” Such requests will be treated as spam.

If you have any suggestions & corrections,please do not hesitate to post it here.