Compilers

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Compilers: OverviewDMDGDCLDC

DMD »

Digital Mars D compiler
The formal D compiler.

GDC »

GCC D compiler
Fast and open source.

LDC »

LLVM D compiler
Fast and open source.

Which compiler should I use?

If you're a beginner DMD is the recommended choice, as it is the implementation closest to the D Language Specification. Otherwise it depends on what you need, what platforms you intend to develop for, and your personal preferences. GDC and LDC both generate substantially faster binaries than DMD.

Comparison

DMD GDC LDC
Platforms
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • OS X
  • FreeBSD
  • Android (source)
  • Windows (alpha)
  • Linux
  • OS X (untested)
  • FreeBSD (untested)
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • OS X
  • FreeBSD
  • OpenSolaris
  • iOS (experimental)
  • Android (alpha)
Architectures
  • i386
  • amd64

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
  • armel

Near-complete support:

  • arm64 (aarch64)
  • ppc
  • ppc64
  • ppc64el
  • mips64

Partial or bare-metal only support:

  • armhf
  • mips
  • s390x
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
  • Source
  • Windows / Linux binary archive
  • Debian/Ubuntu repository
  • Gentoo repository
  • Archlinux repository
  • Source
  • Windows / Linux / OS X binary archive
  • Debian/Ubuntu repository
  • Fedora repository
  • Gentoo repository
Backend DMD (DMC fork) GCC LLVM
License Frontend: GPL 1 or later / Artistic License

Backend: custom

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
Building D code as shared library
  • Linux
  • FreeBSD ?
  • Windows ?
  • Linux
Dynamic loading of D shared libraries
  • Linux
  • Linux

Linux specific
Object file format ELF ELF ELF

Mac specific
Object file format Mach-O Mach-O Mach-O

Windows specific
Object file format OMF (32) / COFF (32 & 64) COFF COFF

Package and/or binary availability, by platform and compiler

Version number is given in brackets. Many of the manual download links have 10s of versions available, only the most recent few are listed here.

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
OS X
iOS
Android
Linux (generic)
Cross-platform
  • DVM (Any version)
Distribution-specific packages
Debian
  • Stable/Testing/Unstable (0.14.0)
  • Experimental (0.15.1)
Ubuntu
Fedora

See https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/ldc

  • 21 (0.13.0)
  • 22 (0.15.1)
  • 23 (0.15.2.beta1)
  • Rawhide (0.16.0.alpha3)
OpenSuse
CentOS
Arch Linux
  • Community (2.068.2)
  • Community (0.15.1)
Gentoo see https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Dlang
FreeBSD

Experimental compilers and forks

  • SDC (Stupid D Compiler) - from-scratch D compiler implementation, written in idiomatic D.
  • Calypso - LDC fork which provides direct Clang interoperability, allowing the use of C headers directly.
  • 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)
  • 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)

Category page: Experimental compilers