It's also horrible, but Arelius is right, it's the best option.

seabrookmx · on Jan 10, 2014

What's so horrible about it?

It's a very mature toolchain, and has better modern (C++11) support than the version of G++ on my Linux box.

jhasse · on Jan 10, 2014

The Express version restricts distribution of the binaries created with it IIRC. Also it's quite a heavy download compared to MinGW.

Please keep in mind that I'm not comparing writing C++ programs with MinGW vs. VC++. Rust just needs a linker for some tasks, which should be lightweight.

Arelius · on Jan 16, 2014

No one is suggesting that it should be the exclusive supported toolchain.

It may strictly be a larger download than MinGW, but it's certainly less painful and confusing. Sure, Rust may just need a linker, but MinGW is anything but lightweight.

jhasse · on Jan 10, 2014

It sure is the best option for C++ Windows development, but not for Rust to depend on and use.

Arelius · on Jan 15, 2014

But having to install the entire mingw toolchain is also clearly not the best for Rust to depend on and use.