   Free C++ compiler and IDE for windows
  I realize that the Express edition of Visual Studio C++ is fantastic and free, but I've had problems both times I try to use SDL with it.  I installed something (I believe the Platform SDK) to allow me to create normal Win32 programs, which work perfectly, but every single time that I link to SDL, I can no longer use std::vectors.  Yeah, it's nuts, but I've had the problem twice and asked here twice, and neither time I've been able to fix it.  So, unless someone knows how to fix the problem, what is currently the second best free compiler (and IDE, or could I plug the new stuff in to VS) for Windows?   
  hm i would say: The cygwin (gnu port) compiler + codeblocks IDE. Or you use eclipse, which is also very powerful.georg   ;  I recommend DevC++. Works just fine and I personally use it.   ;  I would have to agree that you should check out code::blocks, make sure to get it with the MinGW compiler.   ;  g++ is really the only other compiler I would even bother with. I think Borland has a compiler as well, but it is fairly old and non-standards compliant IIRC. Code::Blocks is probably the best IDE you will be able to find. Dev-C++ may also be worth looking into. Both of those come with some form of g++ as well.That is a strange problem with Visual Studio and SDL. I don't recall any problems when I was trying to use them. Maybe you could post the code and I could try it out. If it works, we'll know it must be a config problem and probably pretty easy to fix.Edit: It seems like many possible solutions were given in your previous threads that you didn't follow up on. Have you tried compiling in both debug and release modes?   ;  I read through the threads again, and it seems like I tried everything. Was there anything in particular you were talking about?This is the code, btw:#include <SDL/SDL.h>#include <vector>void f(){   std::vector<int> v;   v.clear();}int main (int argc, char* argv[]){   return 0;}Which gives me this error message:main.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol __imp___CrtDbgReportWThanks for the advice everyone, I'll look into dev-c++ with code:blocks.   ;  you are almost definately linking to a different version of the runtime than the SDL library is linking to.ALL binary parts of any Win32 executable that use the standard library must use the same version (single-threaded vs multi-threaded, and sometimes even debug vs. release).So simply find what version of the CRT (C Runtime library) the SDL was built using and use that for your project. (or download the source and build it yourself, letting you choose the library you want)   ;Quote:Original post by Xaiyou are almost definately linking to a different version of the runtime than the SDL library is linking to.ALL binary parts of any Win32 executable that use the standard library must use the same version (single-threaded vs multi-threaded, and sometimes even debug vs. release).So simply find what version of the CRT (C Runtime library) the SDL was built using and use that for your project. (or download the source and build it yourself, letting you choose the library you want)I'm sure this is it.  As long as it's not too hard to build it myself (I'm bad haha), that's what I'll do.  Thanks everyone for your help. :);  I'll preface this with "I feel like an idiot".OK, right now I'm on my old laptop, so I figured I'd try out code::blocks with mingw.  I created a new c++ console project (including the pre-made main.cpp), hit "run", it compiles with 0 errors and 0 warnings, but nothing happens after that.  I tried adding a std::cin in case the console window was closing really fast, but I still get "Process terminated with status 0 (0 minutes, 0 seconds)".  Should I be setting the build target somehow?   ;  If you're an old Visual Studio 6 user you might like MinGW Studio. It doesn't have as many features as Code::Blocks by any means, but it's practically identical to VS6.At the time of writing the website's bandwith limit has been exceed but it should be up again soon. It's at http://www.parinyasoft.com.