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GNU Compiler Collection VS Open Watcom

Compare GNU Compiler Collection VS Open Watcom and see what are their differences

GNU Compiler Collection logo GNU Compiler Collection

The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting...

Open Watcom logo Open Watcom

Open Watcom is a project of the open source community to maintain and enhance the Watcom C, C++, and Fortran cross compilers and tools.
  • GNU Compiler Collection Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-12
  • Open Watcom Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-21

GNU Compiler Collection features and specs

  • Open Source
    GCC is free software and its source code is open to the public, allowing developers to contribute, modify, and distribute it.
  • Cross-Platform
    GCC supports a wide range of hardware architectures and operating systems, making it highly versatile for different development environments.
  • Multi-language Support
    It supports multiple programming languages, including C, C++, Fortran, Ada, Go, and more, providing flexibility for developers working in different contexts.
  • Optimization
    GCC provides powerful optimization capabilities that can improve the performance of the compiled code significantly.
  • Strong Community
    There is a large and active community of users and developers that contribute to the project's continuous improvement and provide extensive support.

Possible disadvantages of GNU Compiler Collection

  • Complexity
    GCC can be complex and somewhat daunting for beginners due to its wide array of command-line options and settings.
  • Compilation Speed
    In some cases, GCC can be slower to compile compared to some commercial compilers, particularly at high optimization levels.
  • Error Messages
    The error diagnostics can sometimes be cryptic or less user-friendly, which can make debugging difficult for less experienced programmers.
  • Default Settings
    GCC defaults might not always be the most optimized for every use case, requiring users to manually configure options for best performance.

Open Watcom features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

GNU Compiler Collection videos

The GNU Compiler Collection, Dr Jeremy Bennett at Manchester Free Software

More videos:

  • Review - What's New in the GNU Compiler Collection

Open Watcom videos

2017-11-12 -- Hello World for Windows 9x-XP-7 with Open Watcom C

More videos:

  • Review - Integration of Open Watcom C++ compiler for ScaLib BDP project ( VTR-038 )

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GNU Compiler Collection and Open Watcom)
IDE
85 85%
15% 15
Email Marketing
82 82%
18% 18
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
CRM
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GNU Compiler Collection seems to be a lot more popular than Open Watcom. While we know about 41 links to GNU Compiler Collection, we've tracked only 2 mentions of Open Watcom. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GNU Compiler Collection mentions (41)

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Open Watcom mentions (2)

  • Revisiting Borland Turbo C/C++, A Great IDE back in the 90s – CodeProject
    Https://web.archive.org/web/20230315024557/http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/ntvdmx64.html Or just run dosbox for full and isolated emulation. Full circle, there's also djgpp and openwatcom for semi-modern retro development. https://www.delorie.com/djgpp https://openwatcom.org I collect retro compilers, programming books, software, and hardware. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • I want to start learning how to program DOS games
    I recommend using Open Watcom, particularly the Open Watcom V2 fork, to target 32-bit protected mode DOS, rather than 16-bit real mode. Source: about 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GNU Compiler Collection and Open Watcom, you can also consider the following products

clang - C, C++, Objective C and Objective C++ front-end for the LLVM compiler.

LLVM - LLVM is a compiler infrastructure designed for compile-time, link-time, run-time, and...

Tiny C Compiler - The Tiny C Compiler is an x86, x86-64 and ARM processor C compiler created by Fabrice Bellard.

Portable C Compiler - pcc is a C99 compiler which aims to be small, simple, fast and understandable.

Oatpp - Zero-dependency, performance oriented Web Framework for Rapid development in C++

Microsoft Visual Studio - Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft.