MSYS2 is recommended over MinGW

The GNU compilers (gcc, g++ and gfortran) and GNU Make are available using MinGW for native Windows:

Download MinGW-w64 compilers and install to “C:/mingw” using:

• Architecture: x86_64
• Threads: posix
• Exception: seh

This also installs GNU make at “C:/mingw/bin/mingw32-make.exe”.

Add “c:/mingw/bin” to your PATH under Control Panel → System → Advanced.

GNU Make

For convenience, symlink make to mingw32-make:

cd c:/mingw/bin

mklink make.exe mingw32-make.exe

You may need to add user permission to create symbolic links.

CMake on Windows is often used as well.

Alternatives

• Windows Subsystem for Linux gives near-native Linux functionality in a Windows window. It’s much easier to do certain development tasks in WSL.
• MSYS2 is a more powerful way to use MinGW, giving newer packages and a wider selection of programs.