Re: Getting into C++ Downloading gcc.

[Jonathan Wakely <jwakely.gcc@gmail.com>]

On 4 March 2018 at 02:40, Ray McAllister  wrote:
> Hi, I'm totally blind. I do most of my programming in BASIC, but I use C++
> now and then, actually, for drawing fractals.  I code graphics.  I've been
> using Dev-C++ because it's the only thing I can find compatible with my
> screen reader.  I don't like how I can't set up a char array bigger than
> 1400 by 1400  as I might want to make a fractal bigger than that.

You should be able to create arrays bigger than that, limited only by
the memory available on your computer.

You might not be able to create such large arrays on the stack, or as
a global variable, but you could create it on the heap:

char* array = new char[10000*10000];

Or a better way to do that might be:

#include <array>
#include <memory>
using array_type = std::array<char, 10000*10000>;
auto array = std::make_unique<array_type>();


> I have
> the computer fill an array with the fractal data for colors, and then it
> writes a bitmap file with the data and I can access that through BASIC or
> just show it to a friend.  All Dev-C lets me do for array size is 1400 by
> 1400 in an array, and that's using chars.  I'd use Booleans, but I need to
> include color data for each pixel.  I wonder if GCC would be better with
> that.

Dev-C++ is not a compiler, it's just an IDE, and it uses the Mingw
port of GCC for the compiler. That means you're already using GCC.

> I also need to knowk, please, how and where to download GCC, the
> latest version.  I'm not finding info on that.

As explained at https://gcc.gnu.org/install/binaries.html the GCC
project does not provide binaries to download, we only provide source
code. There are third-party binaries available, and the mingw and
mingw-w64 ports of GCC for MS Windows are available from their
respective projects. The https://gcc.gnu.org/install/binaries.html
page has links to them, and there are other builds of them available
like http://tdm-gcc.tdragon.net/

> In addition, when I run the
> dev-c++ programs from bASIC, a window comes up on the screen saying so. Is
> there a way, in GCC, to prevent that?

I have no idea, that sounds like a Windows feature, not something
caused by the compiler. Maybe somebody else can help there.