H0ndaM4n

Ok, so i'm new at this whole "programming" thing. I am looking at getting started, and I need your recomendation. I have no idea where to start with compilers. what should i look for? are there freeware versions? this is what i'm using as a tutorial http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/introduction.html. Is this a good resource?

Thanks

Freaky Chris

that is a reasonable resource indeed, i also recommend cprogramming.com, as for compilers my personal favorite, which is free is Dev-Cpp. Which is and IDE that uses the gcc compiler.

Chris

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Klarre

Dev-Cpp, as Freadky Chris recommended, is a bit old and not updated, but good for beginners since it is very simple to understand and use. I began with that one and can recommend it.
Another free alternative is the Visual Studio Express IDE, which comes together with the compiler from Microsoft, and is much more advanced and complete. When you master the basics of C++ you should definitly switch to this one, if you don't begin with it, for the debugging capacity it offers. Both of these are Windows only, so if you are using another operating system please tell us which one.

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H0ndaM4n

Where do i get Visual Studio Express IDE? and what does IDE mean? I am using Microsoft. The main "family" computer is on Vista, but the computer that I am mostly on is XP. I will be switching between the two. Is this ok?

H0ndaM4n

gcc? what does this mean?

lectricpharaoh

IDE stands for 'integrated development environment', and gcc stands for 'GNU C Compiler'.

A compiler, as you probably are aware, is a program that translates your source code into a program. More accurately, a compiler usually translates your source code into 'object code', which is then fed to a linker to create the final program, but it depends on the system in question.

An IDE, on the other hand, is an editor that offers many features geared towards developing programs. Typical features supported by an IDE include editing multiple source files (in different windows/tabs), managing a collection of source files as a 'project', which allows you to set build options, compiling your program from the IDE, rather than needing to use the command line, running your program, debugging your program, and often additional tools such as GUI editors, electronic API references, etc.

And before you ask, API stands for application programming interface. An API is set up to allow an application to call functions that the application developer didn't write. For example, when doing Windows programming, the CreateWindow() function is part of the Win32 API. API functions are heavily used to let an application call OS functions and receive data back from the OS, but can be used for many things.

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Grich

Gnu Compiler Collection. It's a collection of compilers by Gnu (a free software foundation). It has compilers for C++, C, Fortran, ADA to name a few.

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SYNTAX ERROR ...

Grich

Damn, lectricpharaoh beat me.

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SYNTAX ERROR ...

H0ndaM4n

Hey, thanks, this is a big help. Thanks for helping out a complete newb.

BstrucT

Here's the link for Visual Studio:
http://www.microsoft.com/express/download/

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