C++ basic

hi
is C++ a program that i need to download? or the programming language that appear in the tutorials can be typed in NotePad for instance?
a basic question but i really know nothing about programming and i want to do things right
thanks

C++ is a programming language. You can type the source code in notepad, wordpad or a specialised code editor. Hell, you could type the code into word (as longer as you saved it as text file).

Once you've typed in the code, you need a piece of software called a compiler, which translates the code into something your computer can understand (there's also a second step called linking, but for simple programs that's not so important). There are several different C++ compilers out there. Which one you use depends on your platform and how much you want to pay. If you're running on windows, you can't really go past the free version of visual c++ (see my sig).

Besides Microsoft Visual C++, I like Dev-C++, and many people recommend Code::Blocks. (Those are all free.)

The programs I mentioned are all Integrated Development Environments, which means that they are editors and compilers (and much more besides) rolled into one. They also highlight code to make it easier to read (which is important to me -- see codeform :) ).

geat info thanks!

DWK, your website needs someway to contact you i think, i tried to run the 3dm game but didnt work, prompted error

Just in case it's not quite clear... You will save your human-readable source code in a .CPP file. The compiler/linker will take your .CPP file and it will create a .EXE file that you can run on your computer.

It can take awhile to get a compiler/IDE downloaded, configured, and working. So, be prepaired to spend a few hours getting started.... And don't get discouraged if it doesn't seem to work on the first try. I've used several different compilers, and there always seems to be a snag. I'm usually happy if I can get Hello World running in half a day! (And, you should always try-out "Hello World" whenever you get a new compiler.)

Once you get your compiler/IDE figured-out, things will get better, and you'll have more fun as you learn about branching (using if-statements to make decisions) and looping (doing things over & over). Looping and branching are the two things that make programming worthwhile!

Assuming that you are running Windows, you should be aware that Windows will close your program window as soon as your program is finished running. If you are running windows, you will need to use a "trick" to keep the window open so that you can see the results of your program. (The standard "Hello World" program won't seem to work correctly on a Windows system. You need to make the program pause, so you can see what you've displayed on the screen.) Click here and here.

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Assuming that you are running Windows, you should be aware that Windows will close your program window as soon as your program is finished running.

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Only if you're using Dev-C++ or Borland C++ Builder. Code::Blocks and Visual C++ keep the console open.

VC++ only does it in "execute" mode. When running through the debugger (which you should do most of the time when developing) it doesn't.

When you run it through a debugger, just put a breakpoint on the last line of main().

But usually you'll want to stop even earlier anyway.