   c++ question
  hey couldnt find a secion for questions or didnt look hard enough.anyways i have VC express 2008 edition with a compiler but was wanting to knowis it just like the real C++?like VC 6.0 7.0 and so on? and i heard C++ is free but compilers costs money but i have a compiler, so basiclyif those C++ are free where could i get them? i cant find them anywhere.   
  You were probably looking for For Beginners or General Programming.The "Express" in "Visual C++ Express" refers to IDE features, not language features. VC++ Express 2008 compiles "real" C++.   ;  Visual C++ 2008 is "real" C++. Compilers may or may not cost money, some are free, others are not.The free one you got with Visual C++ is perfectly adequate for writing lots of programs. There is a "professional edition", which costs money - but the extra features it has are not necessary, particularly for beginners.Speaking of which, there is a forum "for beginners", that would be better suited to this question. I am sure a moderator will move this topic for you.   ;  ++Ninja.   ;Quote:Original post by softsoldieranyways i have VC express 2008 edition with a compiler but was wanting to knowis it just like the real C++?like VC 6.0 7.0 and so on?VC express 2008 compiles "real" C++. VC 6.0 does not.Quote:and i heard C++ is free but compilers costs money but i have a compilerSome of them cost money. The one you got doesn't. You don't need to get any more, though. When you pay money, it's for extra features... of a sort that you aren't going to need as a beginning programmer.   ;  I'm going to use this thread instead of creating a new one.I've had trouble compiling .cpp files using different compilers -- the end result of my problems is that the program won't build and execute. Sometimes, like with MinGW that I'm using now, it doesn't even give me the option to build or compile -- all options under the 'Build' tab are greyed-out. This has only happened once with MinGW, and it's when I simply opened a .cpp file from before I used MinGW. Is this because many compilers require that the file have it's own project file for that program?   ;  Compilers don't require "projects". IDE's tend to require projects.  You can compile just about any single file at the command line using gcc,g++,cl. Or make a simple makefile as your project and use gnu's make or VS' nmake.;  1) Yes, I meant IDE, not compiler. I don't get why an IDE would need a project for a single, simple .cpp file beyond maybe assuming that this unassociated .cpp file may link to other files. It was literally not much more than "Hello, World!" yet I've encountered either IDEs or compilers (depending on what the problem is) not being able to build or compile a few times.2) I'm not on Linux.   ;Quote:Original post by Cedstick2) I'm not on Linux.You still have a command line at your disposal. Assuming Windows, it's called 'cmd.exe'. Assuming Mac, it's called Terminal (and the current MacOS is basically built on BSD anyway, which is quite similar to Linux).   ;Quote:Original post by Cedstick1) Yes, I meant IDE, not compiler. I don't get why an IDE would need a project for a single, simple .cpp file beyond maybe assuming that this unassociated .cpp file may link to other files. It was literally not much more than "Hello, World!" yet I've encountered either IDEs or compilers (depending on what the problem is) not being able to build or compile a few times.Where are your include folders? What name and location did you want to output the exe to?  Theses are the sorts of data that are defined in a project in visual studio, and is why you need a project.  Just create a new project, add a cpp file and build.  If you don't want to cet a project, go to the command line and provide that information "by hand".   