MinGW-w64 Compiler

You can use the MinGW-w64 compiler to build MEX files, a MATLAB^® interface to a C++ library, and standalone C/C++ or Fortran MATLAB engine and MAT-file applications. For more information, see "MATLAB Support for MinGW-w64 C/C++/Fortran Compiler".

Install MinGW-w64 Compiler

To install the compiler, use the Add-Ons menu.

On the MATLAB Home tab, in the Environment section, click Add-Ons > Get Add-Ons.
Search for MinGW or select from Features.

Building `yprime.c` Example

You can test the MinGW^® compiler by building the yprime.c example. Copy the source file to a writable folder.

copyfile(fullfile(matlabroot,'extern','examples','mex','yprime.c'),'.','f')

If you only have the MinGW compiler installed on your system, the mex command automatically chooses MinGW. Go to the next step. However, if you have multiple C or C++ compilers, use mex -setup to choose MinGW.

mex -setup

Build the MEX file.

mex yprime.c

MATLAB displays a “Building with” message showing what compiler was used to build the MEX file.

Run the function.

yprime(1,1:4)

For more information, see Troubleshooting and Limitations Compiling C/C++ MEX Files with MinGW-w64.

MinGW Installation Folder Cannot Contain Space

Do not install MinGW in a location with spaces in the path name. For example, do not use:

C:\Program Files\mingw-64

Instead, use:

C:\mingw-64

Updating MEX Files to Use MinGW Compiler

If you have MEX source files built with a different compiler that MATLAB supports, you might need to modify the code to build with the MinGW compiler. For example:

Library (.lib) files generated by Microsoft^® Visual Studio^® are not compatible with MinGW.
Object cleanup is not possible when an exception is thrown using the mexErrMsgIdAndTxt function from C++ MEX files, resulting in memory leak.
An uncaught exception in C++ MEX files compiled with MinGW causes MATLAB to crash.
MEX files with variables containing large amounts of data cannot be compiled, as the compiler runs out of memory.