Intel C++ compiler as an alternative to Microsoft's?

Question

Is anyone here using the Intel C++ compiler instead of Microsoft\'s Visual c++ compiler?

I would be very interested to hear your experience about integration, performan

Answer 1

Anecdotally, I've found that the Intel compiler crashes more frequently than Visual C++. Its diagnostics are a bit more thorough and clearly written than VC's. Thus, it's possible that the compiler will give diagnostics that weren't given with VC, or will crash where VC didn't, making your conversion more expensive.

However, I do believe that Intel's compiler allows you to link with Microsoft runtimes like the CRT, easing the transition cost.

If you are interoperating with managed code you should probably stick with Microsoft's compiler.

Recent Intel compilers achieve significantly better performance on floating-point heavy benchmarks, and are similar to Visual C++ on integer heavy benchmarks. However, it varies dramatically based on the program and whether or not you are using link-time code generation or profile-guided optimization. If performance is critical for you, you'll need to benchmark your application before making a choice. I'd only say that if you are doing scientific computing, it's probably worth the time to investigate.

Intel allows you a month-long free trial of its compiler, so you can try these things out for yourself.