compilers

hi im new to the board. Im a sophmore in HS and just started learning programming, well sorta ive been working with QBasic..havent got to c or c++ yet..i understand QBasic but dont exactly know how to test the scripts ive been writing. I was on another board so i would put it on there and they tested them for me ..so what im asking is if i dowload a compiler, and enter the script in the program, would it do anything to my PC, or just show me what ive done??? any information would be great...my email is .... thanks alot


Gregg

I don't know about QBasic interpreters (I presume... I've never used it). Anyway, a C/C++ compiler such as GCC (www.bloodshed.net -- the popular Dev-C++ IDE for GCC) will simply create the program that you have written (or alert you to errors that prevented it from doing this). What the program does is a matter of how you wrote it. Just starting with C++, however, the worst you really could do is overwrite a file that you shouldn't (when you get around to file I/O), but in that case, you really have to be consciously trying to screw things up.

> any information would be great...my email is .... thanks alot
Find the box which says "email me when there are replies" and tick it.

The differene between a compiler and interpreter, is that a compiler will actually translate your source code into machine code. An interpreter will leave your source code as it is, and just perform that actouns contained in it. Both are available for QuickBasic. I'd recommend QuickBASIC 4.5 - very easy to use, does both.

When you compile a program, it just makes your source code into a program just like any other program you'd use. What that does to your computer depends on the source code. With QuickBASIC, you really have no need to worry. It's a very simplified language, and it's pretty hard to make it do anything harmful unless you really try. When you get into lower-level languages like C and C++, you need to be a little more careful because they give you the ability to directly interface with memory.

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Originally Posted by Zach L.

Just starting with C++, however, the worst you really could do is overwrite a file that you shouldn't (when you get around to file I/O), but in that case, you really have to be consciously trying to screw things up.

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be a little careful when you say those things... you should visit a class of high-schoolers that think they can program because they've had experience with HTML, and they hit their first chapter on looping... admittedly, a blue screen is not much, but when you have an entire classfull of computer hardbooting every minute, it starts to wear on your nerves...

not that this is unseen's case, because he/she already has experience with a language.

thanks alot for your guys' help. See im just doing this thing online. To teach me the qbasic language, it gives you a statement than says write this information into a program using QBasic and gives me numbers- heres an example

' Restaurant Bill calculator
'
PRINT "Enter the total before tax:"
INPUT TOTAL

PRINT "Enter the amount of tax:"
INPUT TAX

LET TIP = TOTAL * 0.15
PRINT "Please pay:", TOTAL + TAX + TIP
END
Modify the program so that it writes out the amount of the TIP in addition to writing the total amount to pay.

my answer was
' Improved Restaurant Bill calculator
'
PRINT "Enter the total before tax:"
INPUT TOTAL

PRINT "Enter the amount of tax:"
INPUT TAX

LET TIP = TOTAL * 0.15
PRINT "The tip is:", TIP
PRINT "Please pay:", TOTAL + TAX + TIP
END

so i just want to see how it looks on my monitor, i dont think this would do anything to my hard-drive so im just going to dowload QUICKBASIC 4.5 and see whats happens, thanks again

gregg

You really need to be learning ANYTHING other than quickbasic... that language is garbage and useless.... it doesn't even teach you good programming technique.

Download any compiler... it's not going to do any damage to your computer unless you do some really low-level/memory management type programming.

alright im only 15 but i understand the programming concept so what shoud i work on than java c c++???? thanks

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alright im only 15

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Don't let that hold you back, I myself started c++ at 11.

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so what shoud i work on than java c c++????

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I think you should just start learning c++. Learning any of those would be good though.

alright will do..so im gonna start with the tutorials on this site and get a book from the library...anything else that will help...i want to take a course at my local community college this summer, do you think thats a good idea?

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Originally Posted by unseen

alright will do..so im gonna start with the tutorials on this site and get a book from the library...anything else that will help...i want to take a course at my local community college this summer, do you think thats a good idea?

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yeah, don't follow the tutorials on this site too literally - the code used in them is a bit outdated... the concepts are all right though.

I think the community college courses are a good idea--I found that I needed a little human assistance to learn some things...

I am also a 15yr old sophomore in HS and am starting to program. Any class you take will help in whatever you are interested in. I myself am going to take EE classes this summer i hope.

yeh but no one at my school has any real knowledge on programming, not even my comp. teachers know that much about it, and no one in my family does...i usually take my programming notes to school and study them and people are like whats programming..so its kinda hard to get personal help, but ill look around thanks, all of you

thats y we have experiments and this forum :). Same situation at my school and family, know alot about comps but nothing with the programming of them :(...o well, good thing there are tons of books and tutorials out there...thx l8er

-fire