EDG C++ front-end
Ranked 3 of 10 compiler infrastructures by recommenders
Free C++ front-end trusted for correct behavior and for emulating MSVC, GCC and Clang. Critics say it is mostly abandoned and slow to add new language features.
Free C++ front-end trusted for correct behavior and for emulating MSVC, GCC and Clang. Critics say it is mostly abandoned and slow to add new language features.
18 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Correct C++ behavior and strong reputation
“they were the only frontend that correctly implement multiple inheritance for c++98”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public” “pretty much the only ones who had modeled enough actual C++ implementation behavior”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public” “It has a very strong reputation for being correct.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public” Influential in C++ history
“fond (and some not so fond) memories of when Silicon Graphics' (MIPS) C and C++ compilers were based on EDG's frontend”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public” “EDG is a major influence in the development of C++.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public” “We certainly held it in high regard.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public” Emulates MSVC, GCC and Clang
“I like this emulation feature. A frontend capable of mimicking MSVC or GCC behavior seems very useful for porting code”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public” “A single executable can emulate pretty much all versions of MSVC, GCC, and Clang.”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Seen as abandoned or end-of-life
“it's really not good news, because it means that one of the frontends is basically reaching end-of-life”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public” “fixing module intelisense has been low priority for EDG”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Precompiled headers and why Squid won't be using them (2023)” “a mostly-abandoned compiler front-end”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “EDG C++ front-end goes public”
Other compiler infrastructures people recommend
The four most recommended other compiler infrastructures, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 10 compiler infrastructures, rankedWhat people said
18 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“a mostly-abandoned compiler front-end”
“C/C++ static analyzers wouldn't be using EDG if it can't keep up with the language.”
“We've supported plenty of features. We've also occasionally been the first to implement them.”
“EDG has been consistently the most vocal opposers of anything that goes in the language”
“pretty much the only ones who had modeled enough actual C++ implementation behavior”
“A single executable can emulate pretty much all versions of MSVC, GCC, and Clang.”
“they were the only frontend that correctly implement multiple inheritance for c++98”
“it even looks like they support far/near pointers from the old DOS days”
“I like this emulation feature. A frontend capable of mimicking MSVC or GCC behavior seems very useful for porting code”
“We certainly held it in high regard.”
“it's really not good news, because it means that one of the frontends is basically reaching end-of-life”
“The code that was hacked on top of EDG was also ridiculous, so there was a lot of accumulated tech debt there.”
“EDG is a major influence in the development of C++.”
“compiling EDG is extremely fast: on my machine, the EDG frontend compiles in 10min”
“Nice to see this still exists!”
“It has a very strong reputation for being correct.”
“fond (and some not so fond) memories of when Silicon Graphics' (MIPS) C and C++ compilers were based on EDG's frontend”
“fixing module intelisense has been low priority for EDG”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.