title: Serial port communication tutorial
body: <p>I'm trying to write a C++ program that reads a stream of data from a measurement device through an RS-232 serial port and translates it into a readable format. I never coded serial port communication before.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Question:</strong> Does anyone have a useful, easy to understand <strong>link</strong> or a <strong>tutorial</strong> that might help?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Constraints:</strong></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Programming language: C++</p></li>
  <li><p>OS: Windows (XP) 32 bit</p></li>
  <li><p>Compilers: MinGW (for prototyping), Eclipse (final version)</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p><strong>This means:</strong></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p><strong>NO</strong> Visual Studio</p></li>
  <li><p><strong>NO</strong> Borland,</p></li>
  <li><p><strong>NO</strong> Code Blocks</p></li>
  <li><p><strong>NO</strong> Blodshed DevC++</p></li>
  </ul>