Strakeln wrote on May 22
nd, 2013 at 2:30pm:
There's not really any skill involved in the use of specific compilers, they all work about the same once you understand how to use them. For example, I typically support Windows and Linux with gcc, intel, and cl.exe (the Visual Studio compiler) all in the same makefile. Switching between compilers is a matter of syntax, not semantics.
As for the relevance of GNU, don't let others fool you. GNU has a distinct advantage over many other popular compilers: it's free. Compiler optimization nowadays tends to be based on hardware, which changes rapidly... thus requiring regular updates of compilers. That's a lot easier to do when there's no associated cost. Consider this: I work for a huge company with scads of money. We JUST updated to VS 2010... we've been riding on 6.0 forever. Pretty difficult to optimize code for today's CPUs when the compiler you're using thinks P4s are the top of the food chain. Intel, I'm still using 8.0. It also thinks P4s are hot shit, but updating to 13.0 (or whatever their latest tier is) would cost several thousands. Every year.
...or we could update gcc for free.
"As for the relevance of GNU, don't let others fool you. GNU has a distinct advantage over many other popular compilers: it's free."
There's a reason it's still packaged with Linux's.. kernal? I always forget if the GNU is the kernal or what rests on top.
Completely agree with you, even though I don't have the knowledge to fully use them yet. That's some good information. I'm still kind of the teenager in the pond for this stuff, lots to learn. It's fun and I enjoy it so that's a leg up over many people in their professions.
EDIT: Linux is the kernal and GNU is the OS, combined to still be called Linux. I just learned this shit in class last month, apparently I dumped it to make room for more important things like C Programming class and other usefull Linux Admin/Net Sec stuffs.