Dlls?

I want to make my own dll but don't no where to start, here are some questions.

Is there a book or "simple" tutuorial on how to create them for blitz?

What is the best freeware tool or commercial tool under $150 to create dlls?

Depends upon which language you would like to use. For creating dlls with C++ you can get Dev C++ for free at http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html . Obviously it is not a tool, it's a full featured compiler and ide for C/C++. For this compiler have a look here:
http://blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=51944#579729

Good luck !

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www.moonworx.de

An alternative for C/C++ work is the Microsoft Visual C++ Toolkit 2003 available for free download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/vctoolkit2003/

Coupled with an IDE such as Code::Blocks and you have a C++ development system comparable with Microsoft's commercial Visal Studio product.

Advantages are, you get Microsoft's fully featured compiler and an editor which receives regular updates and is already extremely stable and useful. I think it is a much better approach than the other way of getting a free C++ compiler (Eclipse and GCC).

I actually purchased Visual C++ 6.0 several years ago, but I find that Code::Blocks with the C++ Toolkit 2003 a much better (more productive) environment.

Whoah, I didn't know about that free tookit. Thanks for the link!

Blimey! How come MS are giving that away for free when Visual Studio costs £100's, presumably?

Oh, and for information specific to interfacing with blitz, click the Specs and Utils link at the top of the page.

big10p: I'm led to believe that certain of the more 'pro' features are not available. Profiling optimisation isn't there (as far as I know), but for most things that's not a great hinderance.

I'm not sure M$ realised that someone would release an open-source IDE which could make use of their free toolkit. It looks like they intended it to be used with a basic editor so that amateurs could compile very basic programs.

It also addresses the fact that Windows still ships without a proper compiler. I am actually hoping that they will see the light and quietly bundle the 2005 toolkit with Vista.

Hookay, I just noticed this at Microsoft's site:
http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/visualc/default.aspx

Am I missing something here, or are they totally just giving Visual Studio away for free? Note that the Toolkit is a 30MB download, while this is only 3.

Thanks I think I will use the C++ toolkit because it was actually trying to get eclipse and gcc working that drove me up the wall and conviced me to buy blitz.

RiddleCats: Good man :)

Don't forget to check the Code::Blocks website regularly. There are some bugs they know about, but they are fixing them quite rapidly. It really is an exceptional piece of software.

You never know, perhaps Microsoft will charge a sensible price for Visual C++ 2005 when they release it and we'll all be able to afford it. Pigs, however, might fly.

**EDIT**

Looks like Visual Studio 2005 is being released next week. Only the beta versions are available for free download. The final versions of the Express products will cost $49 each ($49 for C++, $49 for C# etc).

It is difficult to determine what features are missing. Throughout the various FAQ entries, the only thing Microsoft will admit to is "Express products are designed for hobbyists... lack the complete breadth of features of the full Visual Studio line of products... contain targeted documentation to help the beginner...". The one that really made me smirk was "The user interfaces are significantly streamlined..." which is, of course, market-speak for "lots of stuff has been taken out".

By all means, give the beta a try. Be aware though, Microsoft is a bit edgy about you releasing any software created with the beta product as this web page attests to.

**FURTHER EDIT**

Read this MSDN forum post to see what you get for your $49

In another thread the Platform SDK was mentioned.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=D8EECD75-1FC4-49E5-BC66-9DA2B03D9B92&displaylang=en
You'll probably want that in addition to the free toolkit.