Until Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition came out, I was happily using the VC++ Toolkit 2003 for some small, confined projects of mine. I might even continue that for a while. But I am strongly tempted to chuck Toolkit 2003 and simply use (and recommend) the Express Edition for people who want to be able to rebuild my simple projects.
One part of my project is arranging that others can easily rebuild the code from the same source, using the same compiler, and get the same result (after some important adjustments involving time stamps). That means agreement on a single compiler and libraries used is important. (At all other times, people can use whatever tools they like the best.)
I'm really stuck about this. I don't have to make a final decision for a week or so, but I am really tempted to move to the Express Edition for the much higher level of unsupported support it is gaining and the level of interest that this forum shows, for example. The popularity of the download is also striking.
Although this is probably the wrong choir for recommending that I stick to the Toolkit for people with too-limited resources to use Express Edition comfortably, I thought I'd ask here anyhow.
There's a longer explanation of my concerns and interests in my blog post, "To Express or Not To Express: Choosing a C/C++ Compiler." I'm inclined to go with Express Edition (or even having Toolkit and Express side by side, which also works). So I'm mostly interested in considerations against having the Express Edition compiler be the one required for others wanting to confirm software builds on my project.
To Express or Not To Express
Photius
It is said that time and tide wait for no man. In this case, Microsoft is no longer making the Visual C++ Toolkit 2003 available for download. So all of my attention can be on the use of the 2005 Express Edition for self-study and small practical applications. So that's how it will go.
Damiaan
I didn't receive any bites on this subject here or on my blog post. Although I am not happy about my decision in some respects, I have decided to use the Visual C++ Toolkit 2003 compiler for my simple projects. People will be able to use VC++ 2005 Express Edition as an IDE and as a way of building their own versions of my code, but the "official" builds will all be made and reproducible with Toolkit 2003.
Some of my thinking about this is reflected in the recommendations I make at the end of a recent blog post, "Looking for 'Ahah!' -- When Did You Get Programming " I notice that I have let my self be blocked about this, and I figure that declaring myself will get me off the dime. It does feel like I am being disloyal somehow. I am far more concerned to have a simple process that inexperienced administrators and programmers can replicate. When I get the basics down, I might look at covering beginner use of VC++ 2005 Express Edition too.