compiler?

[Mr. Bushido]

anyone know a good C++/visual basics complier they can recommend? or is there a way to compile code u wrote down on notepad?

[nooc]

Originally Posted by Zoro

anyone know a good C++/visual basics complier they can recommend? or is there a way to compile code u wrote down on notepad?

Check out this collection of free compilers:
http://www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/index.shtml

[Greatwolf]

afaik microsoft is the only vendor of a VB compiler so you don't really have much of a choice there. C++ on the other hand you have a few alternatives: MinGW (gcc ported to windows), Cygwin(another compiler based off gcc), Borland's free 5.5 compiler, & Digital Mars C/C++ Compiler. So take your pick.

One more note, C/C++ source are in plain ascii text files so yes it will work if you write it up in notepad or any other kind of text editor. As long as there're no syntax errors in there it'll compile your source.

[Mr. Bushido]

er... i dont understand how these compilers work.
i downloaded them and installed them, but i dont understand how to open up the program to write the actual code in. the readme files are no help either.

[lavalyn]

Originally Posted by Mr. Bushido

er... i dont understand how these compilers work.
i downloaded them and installed them, but i dont understand how to open up the program to write the actual code in. the readme files are no help either.

Let's take for example that you downloaded gcc (mingw).

Your code files are text files. Use notepad. Or some other Integrated Development Environment, like emacs.

Your code generation calls gcc from a command line. Like:

C:\> gcc hello.c -o hello.exe

[Mr. Bushido]

Originally Posted by lavalyn

Let's take for example that you downloaded gcc (mingw).

Your code files are text files. Use notepad. Or some other Integrated Development Environment, like emacs.

Your code generation calls gcc from a command line. Like:

C:\> gcc hello.c -o hello.exe

after u write in the code on notepad where do u complie?

btw: does anyone know where i can learn about the computer? a book? a college? like right now, im having problem helping a friend with some NSIS problem. I know more than the average guy, but not enough to do any "techie" things. i become quite useless in any problem beyond the basic "cant find this file please specify where it is"

[lavalyn]

Originally Posted by Mr. Bushido

after u write in the code on notepad where do u complie?

btw: does anyone know where i can learn about the computer? a book? a college? like right now, im having problem helping a friend with some NSIS problem. I know more than the average guy, but not enough to do any "techie" things. i become quite useless in any problem beyond the basic "cant find this file please specify where it is"

Best way to learn about the computer is to play with it. Fiddle with it. I suggest trying Linux for a while because it gives you a totally different feel for what a computer can do and how it behaves. (Also because linux exposes more of the hardware to the end-user)

[Greatwolf]

Originally Posted by Mr. Bushido

after u write in the code on notepad where do u complie?

Anywhere. You have to realize that the compilers mentioned uptop work from the command prompt. Meaning they don't have any nice IDE for you to play in (which are nothing more than just glorified text editors).

Say you typed up your source and called the file hello.cpp. Here's how you compile it:

1. crack open the command prompt

2. get into the directory where your hello.cpp resides

3. from there, type in the full pathname of where you installed the compiler followed by the name of the compiler.exe then a space then the name of the source you want to compile -- it would be hello.cpp in this example.

The switches and options for compiling will vary a little between compilers but usually you don't have to worry about that when you're starting out. It's usually enough to just type in the compiler.exe followed by the source you want to compile. lavalyn already showed you an example of how to compile under gcc. Here's another example for compiling using the Borland 5.5 compiler:

E:\Borland\myworkspace>E:\Borland\bcc55\bin\bcc32.exe hello.cpp *enter*

At this point, if there are any syntax errors in your source you'll be notified. Otherwise, the compilation was successful and a hello.exe should be produced at the end. You can just run your hello.exe afterwards.

Additionally, if you're familar with the environment path under windows, you can add in the path of the compiler to this environment path. By doing this, you can avoid typing out the entire path of where your compiler resides everytime you need to compile something -- the environment path will tell the computer where to look for your compiler.exe.

That's basically it.