I've been using DevC++ (4.9.9.2 in Windows XP, Dell Inspiron 640m) for a little while now and have had a few recurring issues--I am wondering if there is anything I can do to get rid of them:
1) Inconsistent auto-indent--usually it will indent 4 spaces where appropriate, but sometimes more and sometimes less; and it will often position the closing curly brace too far out. E.g. if I insert a line into a block of code that I had worked on previously, the new line will get auto-indented too far in relative to the preexisting lines.
2) Ignoring breakpoints during debugging--this has been discussed in the context of constructors but I am having this happen in any kind of function. Sometimes rebuilding helps, sometimes I have to restart DevC++, but so far I can't make rhyme or reason of it.
3) Sometimes the line cursor will stop moving during debugging, and control might continue line by line or the program might just hang (even if this is not the location of the segmentation fault). I keep the task manager running and while sometimes this coincides with DevC++ 'hanging' at 50% CPU usage (also discussed elsewhere), this isn't always the case.
Anyway, much gratitude to the developers who have given DevC++ to the world, I've been able to use it 90% effectively but would really like to get that last 10%. Thanks for any tips--
Best,
Matt
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1) Switch off "smart" indenting. It's not that smart.
2) The debugger is a pile of poo in so many ways. I suggest using the MinGW Insight debugger instead - far more robust and reliable. Actually because i believe the debugger to be the most improtant tool a programmer can use, I would actually suggest using VC++ 2008 Express instead of Dev-C++ since its has a far more powerful debugger (and smarter indenting as it happens, and working code browsing and completion features).
3) Dev-C++ integrates teh GDB command line debugger, but it does not integrate it very well or reliably in my experience. Neither does it expose a lot of important and useful GDB functionality. Hence I reiterate the suggestion to use Insight.
The tools menu customisation feature allows you to integrate Insight reasonably well (it will launch and load the current project). However there is no macro to pass the command line arguments set in the project options to the program being debugged.
Except for a number of improtant niches, and perhaps in its wxDev-C++ variant which is an example of such a niche, Dev-C++ can no longer be considered 'best in class' amongst free toolchain offerings.
Clifford
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I will look into the options you mentioned. I did leave an item off my list though:
4) Clicking on methods in the class browser seems non-deterministic--sometimes it takes me to the the declaration, sometimes to the definition (in a different file). It doesn't matter if I click 'Goto implementation' in the menu or not. Again recompiling/relinking somehow seems to help this situation.
I'm guessing 'try VC++ Express 2008' is the answer here too?
Thanks (and thanks again to the DevC++ folks)--
Best,
Matt
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hello,
I've been using DevC++ (4.9.9.2 in Windows XP, Dell Inspiron 640m) for a little while now and have had a few recurring issues--I am wondering if there is anything I can do to get rid of them:
1) Inconsistent auto-indent--usually it will indent 4 spaces where appropriate, but sometimes more and sometimes less; and it will often position the closing curly brace too far out. E.g. if I insert a line into a block of code that I had worked on previously, the new line will get auto-indented too far in relative to the preexisting lines.
2) Ignoring breakpoints during debugging--this has been discussed in the context of constructors but I am having this happen in any kind of function. Sometimes rebuilding helps, sometimes I have to restart DevC++, but so far I can't make rhyme or reason of it.
3) Sometimes the line cursor will stop moving during debugging, and control might continue line by line or the program might just hang (even if this is not the location of the segmentation fault). I keep the task manager running and while sometimes this coincides with DevC++ 'hanging' at 50% CPU usage (also discussed elsewhere), this isn't always the case.
Anyway, much gratitude to the developers who have given DevC++ to the world, I've been able to use it 90% effectively but would really like to get that last 10%. Thanks for any tips--
Best,
Matt
1) Switch off "smart" indenting. It's not that smart.
2) The debugger is a pile of poo in so many ways. I suggest using the MinGW Insight debugger instead - far more robust and reliable. Actually because i believe the debugger to be the most improtant tool a programmer can use, I would actually suggest using VC++ 2008 Express instead of Dev-C++ since its has a far more powerful debugger (and smarter indenting as it happens, and working code browsing and completion features).
3) Dev-C++ integrates teh GDB command line debugger, but it does not integrate it very well or reliably in my experience. Neither does it expose a lot of important and useful GDB functionality. Hence I reiterate the suggestion to use Insight.
The tools menu customisation feature allows you to integrate Insight reasonably well (it will launch and load the current project). However there is no macro to pass the command line arguments set in the project options to the program being debugged.
Except for a number of improtant niches, and perhaps in its wxDev-C++ variant which is an example of such a niche, Dev-C++ can no longer be considered 'best in class' amongst free toolchain offerings.
Clifford
Thanks Clifford,
I will look into the options you mentioned. I did leave an item off my list though:
4) Clicking on methods in the class browser seems non-deterministic--sometimes it takes me to the the declaration, sometimes to the definition (in a different file). It doesn't matter if I click 'Goto implementation' in the menu or not. Again recompiling/relinking somehow seems to help this situation.
I'm guessing 'try VC++ Express 2008' is the answer here too?
Thanks (and thanks again to the DevC++ folks)--
Best,
Matt
4) Yes it is both broken and the source of a number of bugs, as well as being painfully slow at parsing headers. Avoid.