Speed Test 2: Comparing C++ Compilers On WIndows 132
Nerval's Lobster writes "In a previous posting, developer and programmer Jeff Cogswell compared a few C++ compilers on Linux. Now he's going to perform a similar set of tests for Windows. "Like all things Windows, it can get costly doing C++ development in this environment," he writes. "However, there are a couple notable exceptions" such as free and open-source cygwin, mingW, Express Versions of Visual Studio, and Embacadero. He also matched up the Intel C++ Compiler, Microsoft C++ Compiler, and the Embarcadero C++ 6.70 Compiler. He found some interesting things — for example, Intel's compiler is pretty fast, but its annoying habit of occasionally "calling home" to check licensing information kept throwing off the rests. Read on to see how the compilers matched up in his testing."
Re:Calling home (Score:4, Informative)
You might think so, but no. If the licensing check is done in the clear, one could spoof the reply and thus bypass the licensing effortlessly. More likely it's encoded/encrypted in some way that you can't (easily) fake a green light. So you may be able to identify the transmission of "very large binary" or equivalent, but differentiating between a "license check" and "tiny binary" would be tricky since you won't be reading the stream.
Intel compiler does not phone home for licensing (Score:5, Informative)
The Intel compilers do NOT "phone home" for licensing. What they do "phone home" for is to send anonymous usage data. When you install, you're asked if you want to opt in to this - it is not enabled by default. Licensing is done entirely locally for single-user licenses. See http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/software-improvement-program [intel.com] for more information.