Compilers

Compilers: Overview — DMD — GDC — LDC ✎

DMD » Digital Mars D compiler The official reference D compiler. DMD Portal »

GDC » GCC D compiler The DMD compiler front end coupled with the GCC compiler back end. Fast and open source. GDC Portal »

LDC » LLVM D compiler The DMD compiler front end coupled with the LLVM compiler back end. Fast and open source. LDC Portal »

Which compiler should I use?

For beginners, DMD is the recommended choice, as it is the implementation closest to the D Language Specification. Otherwise, the best choice depends on the project's needs, the target platforms, and personal preferences. GDC and LDC both generate substantially faster binaries than DMD.

Comparison

	DMD	GDC	LDC
Platforms	Windows Linux OS X FreeBSD	Windows (alpha) Linux OS X (untested) FreeBSD (untested)	Windows Linux OS X (incl. iOS etc.) FreeBSD Android
Architectures	i386 amd64 arm64(aarch64)(experimental)	Complete (runtime / standard library) support: i386 amd64 x32 armel armhf Partial or bare-metal only support (packages for gdc in debian): alpha arm64 (aarch64) hppa hurd-i386 kfreebsd-amd64 kfreebsd-i386 m68k mips mipsel ppc pcc64 ppc64el s390x sparc64	Complete (runtime / standard library) support: i386 amd64 arm64 (aarch64) armel (untested) armhf (untested) Near-complete support: ppc ppc64 ppc64el mips64 riscv64 loongarch64 Partial or bare-metal only support: mips s390x WebAssembly
Distribution	Source Multi-platform source/binary archive Multi-platform installer (DVM) Windows installer OS X package (.dmg) Debian/Ubuntu package (.deb) Fedora package (.rpm) OpenSUSE (.rpm) package Debian/Ubuntu repository via http://d-apt.sourceforge.net OS-X homebrew and macports repositories Nix/NixOS package (for NixOS, other Linux and OS X)	Source Windows / Linux binary archive Debian/Ubuntu repository Gentoo repository Archlinux repository	Source Windows / Linux / OS X / FreeBSD / Android binary archive Debian/Ubuntu repository Fedora repository Gentoo repository FreeBSD repository GNU Guix Nix/NixOS package (for NixOS, other Linux and OS X)
Backend	DMD (DMC fork)	GCC	LLVM
License	Boost	GPL 3 or later	LDC-specific code: 3-clause BSD
Inline assembler	DMD Intel-like syntax (i386/amd64)	GCC syntax (all targets)	DMD Intel-like syntax (i386/amd64) GCC syntax (all targets) LLVM inline IR
SIMD	Partial (?)	Partial (?)	Partial (?)
Phobos as a shared library	Linux FreeBSD	Linux FreeBSD	Linux (incl. Android) OS X FreeBSD Windows
Building D code as shared library	Linux OS X FreeBSD Windows		Linux (incl. Android) OS X FreeBSD Windows
Dynamic loading of D shared libraries	Linux FreeBSD		Linux (incl. Android) OS X FreeBSD Windows
Linux specific
Object file format	ELF	ELF	ELF
Mac specific
Object file format	Mach-O	Mach-O	Mach-O
Windows specific
Object file format	COFF	COFF	COFF

Package and/or binary availability, by platform and compiler

Some unofficial repositories and downloads are listed here, but of course many more do exist. With a little searching, you may be able to find something more up to date for your chosen OS.

Very old compilers are (mostly) omitted, as they are unlikely to be of interest to users.

Platform	Compiler
	DMD	GDC	LDC
Windows	Manual download Chocolatey	Manual download	Manual download
OS X	Homebrew MacPorts Nix Manual download		Homebrew Nix Manual download
iOS			Manual download
Android			Manual download Instructions on setup, including a native package
Linux (generic)	Manual download	Manual download	Manual download Source (ARM/Linux cross-compiler)
Cross-platform	DVM (Any version)
Distribution-specific packages
Debian	Manual download APT repository	stable testing unstable	stable testing unstable
Ubuntu	Manual download APT repository	gdc	ldc
Fedora	Manual download		See https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/ldc
OpenSuse	devel:languages:D		devel:languages:D home:marc_schuetz
CentOS	Manual download
Arch Linux	Community	Community AUR (git HEAD)	Community AUR (git HEAD)
Gentoo	see https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Dlang
FreeBSD	Manual download Ports		Ports

Experimental compilers and forks

• SDC (Snazzy D Compiler) - from-scratch D compiler implementation, written in idiomatic D.
• LDC for iOS - LDC-based toolkit for cross-compiling to iOS
• D for Android - Toolkit for cross-compiling to Android (x86 using DMD and ARM using LDC)
• Calypso - LDC fork which provides direct Clang interoperability, allowing the use of C headers directly.
• DCompute (LDC CUDA and SPIRV) - Library and LDC fork to "target CUDA and SPIR to enable hassle free native execution on the gpu" -upstreamed into LDC
• MicroD - DMD fork which outputs C source code instead of object files
• dtojs - DMD fork which outputs JavaScript source code instead of object files
• DIL - D compiler written in D2/Tango (inactive project)
• dscripten - LDC/emscripten-based toolchain for compiling D to asm.js / WebAssembly

Category page: Experimental compilers