Thread: Difference between C++ & Visual C++

I've done some C programming and now it's time to learn C++.
My local college offers courses in both C++ and Visual C++.
What's the difference? Are they used for different types of applications? Is one favored more by industry than the other?

My goal is to create simple windows applications at work,
and perhaps continue with my education towards a 2 yr
degree in CS.

Thanks for your help.

If you want to do Windows apps, I'd still suggest taking the C++ only classes first. I would guess/hope that they teach you good C++ programming which should give you a good foundation.

Then, once you feel comfortable with generic C++, you should take a class that uses Visual C++ to build Windows apps.

Of course, you can still use Visual C++ to do your generic C++ programming. Just because you use the Visual C++ IDE and compiler doesn't mean you have to make Windows programs. If you can, use that in your regular C++ classes and then you'll be comfortable with the environment when you start building GUI apps.

Visual C++ is an application.

Yes. It is Microsoft's compiler (IDE = Integrated Development Environment.)

It runs in a window, and it can compile Windows applications as well as console applications in either C or C++.

There are other compilers that can compile Windows applications. This ability is "above and beyond" the ANSI/ISO C++ language standard.

Check the course prerequisites for the Visual C++ class. They may not requre C++ first. For example, in Programing Windows, Charles Petzold uses C in all of his examples. (I assume this class is going to teach you to write Windows applications using the Visual C++ compiler.) You will need to take the generic C++ class (or self-study) at some point, because there is too much Windows-specific information to cover both topics in one course.

You can write Windows applications in C, and compile them with the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler. You can include <windows.h> and use the WinAPI functions in either a C, or a C++ program.

Is one favored more by industry than the other?

C++ is probably the most common language, and Microsoft Visual C++ is probably the most common compiler. This doesn't mean that everybody uses them. It means that industry is using lots of different tools... I mean maybe Visual C++ is a 10% slice the market (and that's a made-up number), and nobody else has a slice that big.

Thanks everyone, for the helpful info!