Thread: C++ @ School

  1. #1
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    C++ @ School

    If anyone has ever been to a college/university for programming language, do they give you a free compiler, because I was thining about buying visual studio 6 so I could work with the 3 languages im learn, (they all the start with C, one is C), and if the colleges give compilers away for free, then why bother buying one, I should just wait until I got to college etc..

    Thanks
    jay

  2. #2
    Registered User Frobozz's Avatar
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    Usually if you attend a college or university, you are given a student discount on Visual Studio. Dev-C++ is the usual recommendation around here. I don't personally like it but that's just me.

    www.bloodshed.net

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    We actually have an agreement with my University and Microsoft that we can get legitimate free copies of software to use while a student

    Such things as Visual Studio .NET, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and other MS products.

    All it requires is that we are enrolled in a third or fourth year computer science course.

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    Senior Member joshdick's Avatar
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    Drexel University has Visual Studio available for download by way of their FTP server. You should check with your college before spending your own money on it.

    Dev C++ is a very nice, free alternative to Visual Studio. If you're looking to learn even more, you could download Cygwin and use vi/emacs to do your editing and compile with g++.

    Whether you ultimately end up programming in a Windows or *nix environment, it's in your best interests to have experience developing using command-line tools. I'm currently doing embedded programming using a proprietary compiler that only runs on Windows through the command line, but it has no IDE. If it weren't for the CS class I took this year on programming techniques in Unix, I'd be lost when it comes to invoking programs through the command line or writing batch files.

    It did, however, take me a moment or two to figure out why ls wasn't working ...
    FAQ

    "The computer programmer is a creator of universes for which he alone is responsible. Universes of virtually unlimited complexity can be created in the form of computer programs." -- Joseph Weizenbaum.

    "If you cannot grok the overall structure of a program while taking a shower, you are not ready to code it." -- Richard Pattis.

  5. #5
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    I wouldn't buy the full Visual Studio package right now. I assume that you already have a compiler to learn with 'till you start college. It's very expensive if you can't get the acedemic discount ($800 ?) If you have that much extra money... spend it on a ship-load of programing books!!!

    When you take a class, especially a begining class, the instructor will standardize on a particular set of tools. You don't want to spend lots of money on the "wrong" compiler, or the wrong version. If you think your school uses Visual Studio, you could get Visual C++ only ($100) or download the free beta version of Visual C++. You will be ahead of the game in the beginning when some other students are struggling to get the compiler installed, configured, and trying to get "hello world" compiled!

    If your school doesn't offer it free, once you are an enrolled college student, you can get Visual Studio at a deep discount... I think you can get it for $100. The acedemic version may have some limitations. The programs compiled on it may not run on another computer that doesn't have Visual Studio installed.

  6. #6
    Registered User Frobozz's Avatar
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    Last time I heard the Standard edition will be selling for $300. Not a bad price especially since it will be including all the compilers unlike the previous standard editions.

    A chart of features is available from http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005...e/default.aspx

  7. #7
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
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    You can get the command line tools from Microsoft for free.

    As for editors, I'm personally very fond of jEdit.
    http://www.jedit.org/
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
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  8. #8
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    These things will vary depending on the school. My school heavily promotes linux. We use gcc and plain old editors for pretty much everything.

  9. #9
    Carnivore ('-'v) Hunter2's Avatar
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    http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/expres...c/default.aspx

    The latest from MS, free and legit
    Just Google It. √

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    The university I attend uses both Windows and Linux, but gcc for both (using Dev-C++ for windows). I have been messing with VC++ Express 2005 beta, and from what I hear, the express line is going to be pretty cheap on release, which I think will help out the college, and independent developer crowed. Although I am a fan of gcc, Microsoft still makes one heck of an IDE.
    If any part of my post is incorrect, please correct me.

    This post is not guarantied to be correct, and is not to be taken as a matter of fact, but of opinion or a guess, unless otherwise noted.

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