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Mail Archives: djgpp/2002/08/31/15:15:08

From: Charles Sandmann <sandmann AT clio DOT rice DOT edu>
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: Re: Cygwin, Mingw, DJGPP (something else ?)
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 13:51:18 CDT
Organization: Rice University, Houston TX
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> Cygwin, Mingw, DJGPP (is there something else ?) are based on GNU project 
> (including gcc compiler). In brief (comparative table?) : what is the 
> essential difference between them?

The primary difference is the target environment the executables will
run in - and the behavior of the provided library.

       Runs_in_DOS  Unix_Compatibility   Win32_Features  Image_Size
DJGPP     Yes             High                  Low         Medium
MingW      No              Low                 High          Small
CygWin     No             High                 High          Large

DJGPP executables are based on the DPMI environment, so will run in DOS.
MingW and CygWin images will not.  DJGPP images have low access to 
Windows features; you need an add-on to create Win32 images.  MingW
uses (mostly) the native routines that ship with Windows (used by
microsoft compilers) - so images are smaller - faster - but behave more
like Windows and less like unix (harder porting).

It's all personal preference and environment targets.  DJGPP images are
nice because they run either from a boot disk or from a command window.
MingW images are nice since the are the smallest and fastest under
Windows.  CygWin is great if you are porting Unix program and want to
make minimum changes - and don't mind bringing a large complex environment 
with the image to make porting easier.

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