Can GCC generate totally native Microsoft Windows binaries as Visual Studio?

[Liu Hao]

On 2018/1/5 15:30, timofonic timofonic wrote:
> Hello.
> 
> Excuse me my ignorance, but that's what people say me.
> 
> GCC can compile to Microsoft Windows platforms, I understand it. But
> people say me it uses a "shim" between *nix and native Microsoft
> Windows API.
> 

There are three platforms on Windows: Cygwin, the original mingw32, and
mingw-w64.

It is only Cygwin that relies on the emulation layer. mingw32 and
mingw-w64 both make use of system DLLs directly, at the cost of absence
of quite a little infrastructure mandated by POSIX (e.g. signals other
than those in standard C, the fork syscall, terminal support,
filesystem, etc). Programs that require no such support (by having some
features disabled or worked around) should work fine.

> Some developers said me GCC on Windows is a "toy compiler".
> 
> Is this right?
> 

Over-subjective opinions like that are often initiation of *worthless*
wars. You learn *nothing* from the answer. Judge wisely.

> Kind regards.
> 


-- 
Best regards,
LH_Mouse