C++ Notes
Getting Set Up - C++ Compilers
The very first thing you need to do, before starting out in C++, is to make sure that you have a compiler. What is a compiler, you ask? A compiler turns the program that you write into an executable that your computer can actually understand and run. If you're taking a course, you probably have one provided through your school. If you're starting out on your own, your best bet is to use Code::Blocks with MinGW. If you're on Linux, you can use g++, and if you're on Mac OS X, you can use XCode. (If you are stuck using an older compiler, such as Turbo C++, you'll need to read this page on compatibility issues.) If you haven't yet done so, go ahead and get a compiler set up--you'll need it for the rest of the tutorial.
Intro to the C++ Language
A C++ program is a collection of commands, which tell the computer to do "something". This collection of commands is usually called C++ source code, source code or just code. Commands are either "functions" or "keywords". Keywords are a basic building block of the language, while functions are, in fact, usually written in terms of simpler functions--you'll see this in our very first program, below. (Confused? Think of it a bit like an outline for a book; the outline might show every chapter in the book; each chapter might have its own outline, composed of sections. Each section might have its own outline, or it might have all of the details written up.) Thankfully, C++ provides a great many common functions and keywords that you canuse.
But how does a program actually start? Every program in C++ has one function, always named main, that is always called when your program first executes. From main, you can also call other functions whether they are written by us or, as mentioned earlier, provided by the compiler.
So how do you get access to those prewritten functions? To access those standard functions that comes with the compiler, you include a header with the #include directive. What
The very first thing you need to do, before starting out in C++, is to make sure that you have a compiler. What is a compiler, you ask? A compiler turns the program that you write into an executable that your computer can actually understand and run. If you're taking a course, you probably have one provided through your school. If you're starting out on your own, your best bet is to use Code::Blocks with MinGW. If you're on Linux, you can use g++, and if you're on Mac OS X, you can use XCode. (If you are stuck using an older compiler, such as Turbo C++, you'll need to read this page on compatibility issues.) If you haven't yet done so, go ahead and get a compiler set up--you'll need it for the rest of the tutorial.
Intro to the C++ Language
A C++ program is a collection of commands, which tell the computer to do "something". This collection of commands is usually called C++ source code, source code or just code. Commands are either "functions" or "keywords". Keywords are a basic building block of the language, while functions are, in fact, usually written in terms of simpler functions--you'll see this in our very first program, below. (Confused? Think of it a bit like an outline for a book; the outline might show every chapter in the book; each chapter might have its own outline, composed of sections. Each section might have its own outline, or it might have all of the details written up.) Thankfully, C++ provides a great many common functions and keywords that you canuse.
But how does a program actually start? Every program in C++ has one function, always named main, that is always called when your program first executes. From main, you can also call other functions whether they are written by us or, as mentioned earlier, provided by the compiler.
So how do you get access to those prewritten functions? To access those standard functions that comes with the compiler, you include a header with the #include directive. What