Thread: Very sorry, but this must be the most n00b question =]

Code::Blocks has many fans.

Originally Posted by Mario F.

Yup. Perfectly good for starters.

Dev-C++ is good for anyone. It is a nice IDE and comes with a good compiler... MinGW

Originally Posted by Mario F.

Your friend is too pessimistic. Many have started programming in C++ at your age. Programming seems to be much easier for young minds. Just don't expect it to be too easy... or even easy

It's true that many 13 year old children have learned C++, but I still think there are people who can't do it. One of my friends wants to be a programmer, but whenever he tries to learn C++, he does not understand anything and just quits trying. Maybe it's only the question of how easily you quit... I think there is nothing difficult in C++ - everything makes sense.

Originally Posted by Mario F.

This is the place, for sure. But most in here expect you to not ask for the sake of asking. It's always best when you show that at least you tried to search for the answer. Anyways, start by reading the tutorials on this website. That will start you with C++... http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial.html. Search the web for "C++ tutorial" too and you'll be amazed. Have fun and ask anytime you get stomped.

After you have read tutorials and haven't found an answer to your question, search Cboard. Then you should try Google, but be patient - you certainly need to try many different keywords.

Originally Posted by DougDbug

C++ is a good language to learn the foundations of programming. In some ways it might be better to start-out with a simpler language, but there are a couple of advantages to C++:

It is good to start with easy web languages, like HTML, CSS and PHP. There it's not so important if you know exactly what you're doing.

Originally Posted by DougDbug

The downside to C++ is that you must start-out with text-based programs. There are no graphics, color, mouse, sound, or networking in Standard ANSI/ISO C++.

That's not a downside. Besides, it may not take very long to be ready for GUI and Win32 API.

Originally Posted by DougDbug

I strongly recommend that you get a book. If you make it half-way through the tutorials, and are you still are interested, a book will help. A good beginning book will cover essentially the same information as the tutorials, but with much more depth and explanation. You'll typically get a full chapter on each subject covered by the tutorial. For example Accelerated C++ is about 350 pages, and Teach yourself C++ in 21 Days is about 750 pages.

He is 13 years old. It is possible that he can't afford to buy books or he wants to do something else with his money.

>I have this book and i think it's great, this is what i'm reading at the minute, it's not a bad book.
I'm going to hold my evaluation above yours if you don't mind. I've read it cover to cover multiple times, starting when I was first learning C++. I didn't think much of it when I read it with no experience at all, and I think even less of it now that I have a decade of experience under my belt. It's not crap, but it's not good either. I lump it with the armies of uninteresting and unhelpful titles that keep you from finding the real gems.

>just the built in complier as far as i know =]
Not helpful.

>but whats the favorite one around
If there were a favorite, do you think so many would be available? If you don't like Dev-C++, try Visual C++ 2005 Express. It's a free download and you might like the interface better.

ive managed to find a "hello world" program, that hasnt got any errors, but i Compile and Run it, and it says compiling, but nothing else happens after, is there a window meant to come up with the program?

This FAQ and this FAQ are the ones that Prelude mentioned. If this is the problem you are having, it's a Windows "feature" that closes the console window when the program ends. The "problem" is not caused by C++ itself. With Windows, your program needs to pause (or loop) if you want the window to remain open.

"21 Days" was my first C++ book. I found it easy to understand, and I really liked the fact that it's designed as a self-study course with questions & exercises at the end of each chapter ("day"), with answers and solutions in the back. (However, pay close attention to what Prelude says! She knows more than 90% of us here!)

With most programming books, you have to make-up your own exercises which can be difficult when you a beginner, or even if you are a more advanced "student", and you don't have a use in-mind for the topic covered in the particular chapter.

21 Days is just ok. It gets a meh. Also, another free (and great) IDE is Code::Blocks.
PS: Prelude, I like the new logo.

I disagree. I think C++ is easy to learn as long as you take it in small steps. Once you've got the language basics, you can move on to more complex stuff, eventually bringing yourself up to the level where you can get a job programming.

As Stroustrup points out, the Standard Library allows for C++ to be taught at a very high level, with language-level implementations (i.e. memory management) being taught later. I read an essay on C++ pedagogy once -- apparently it's a tough thing to do.