Why is console executable bigger than Win?

[Bryan Miller]

I am curious why a compiled console version of "hello world" is 72 kb while the Windows GUI equivalent is only 4 kb. Does it have to do with my include statements? Here is my code for each program, first the console and then the Windows version:

include <iostream.h>

include <stdio.h>

include <stdlib.h>

int main()
{
cout << "Hello World!" << endl;

cout << "Press ENTER to continue..." << endl;
getchar ();
return 0;
}

---

include <windows.h>

int WINAPI WinMain (HINSTANCE hInstance,
HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
PSTR szCmdLine,
int iCmdShow)
{
MessageBox (NULL, "Hello", "Hello Demo", MB_OK);
return (0);
}

[cpns]

<iostream> is a large statically linked library. The Windows API on the other hand is provided to your app as a DLL so does not form part of the executable.

Since in MinGW the C library is also a DLL, if you want small executables, use the C library only.

It is largely a fixed overhead, so for any significantly sized application it will make not be significant. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Clifford