Also note that the Microsoft C/C++ compiler is free. (Do a Google search for Visual Studio Build Tools) You can download it here: <https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/thank-you-downloading-visual-studio/?sku=BuildTools&rel=16> Parent Page: <https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2019> I think you can even get the clicky-pokey hooey-gooey for free too, if clickety-pokey hooey-gooeys float your boat. The Microsoft compiler is an OK compiler for non-critical work. It is also a separate toolchain to produce x86 and x64 executables and not a unified tool chain like the mingw-w64 gcc ports. If you are expecting to perform floating point arithmetic and are using a Microsoft compiler, be aware that the generated code is no longer IEEE-754 compliant though there are (apparently) ways to "force" compliance even with the x64 compiler. How one accomplishes this feat I do not know -- it is far more complicated than setting a compiler switch in that one has to bugger with the CRT startup code, I presume. Switching to a compiler that generates IEEE-754 compliant code by default seems much easier to me.