which is the best free method for compiling modules for win32

zentara has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi, I don't delve much into win32 at all, but I may be helping a friend soon. I was wondering what do you recommend for compiling modules for w32? What are the pitfalls to watch out for? For instance, if we start with ActiveStatePerl, and want to compile a module, what can(and can't) be used?

Is it better to start by compiling Perl ourselves? Which compiler to use? Is MinGW working well? I don't want the free MS compiler which needs all the .NET stuff.

I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. flash japh

Comment on which is the best free method for compiling modules for win32

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Re: which is the best free method for compiling modules for win32 by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jul 22, 2004 at 14:23 UTC
FWIW. About a year or more ago, I tried building perl first with MingW and got nowhere at all, then with Borland 5.5 and succeeded with considerable trouble. Eventually I succummed to using MSVC. Luckily I had a very knowledgable mentor that knew how to chop the thing down to the bare essentials. If you use AS, then MSVC is the only safe way to build modules that have a binary component. Examine what is said, not who speaks. "Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham "Think for yourself!" - Abigail "Memory, processor, disk in that order on the hardware side. Algorithm, algoritm, algorithm on the code side." - tachyon	[reply]
Re: which is the best free method for compiling modules for win32 by roju (Friar) on Jul 22, 2004 at 14:27 UTC
I use ActiveState daily, without much trouble. Cygwin also has a perl package, and then you could just use GCC to compile any packages that you need. I will warn you, there are some modules that don't play nice with cygwin, off the top of my head though, I can't remember which I've had problems with in the past. I'm pretty happy using AS and getting my modules from PPM.	[reply]
Re^2: which is the best free method for compiling modules for win32 by jacques (Priest) on Jul 22, 2004 at 18:00 UTC
I'm pretty happy using AS and getting my modules from PPM Which would be nice if AS kept the modules current. They do not. I would stick with Cygwin and ignore AS, unless you had to use them. Besides if you are like most of us and have a Unix background, then you will feel more comfortable with Cygwin anyway.	[reply]