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ok, so you probably want to download the free version of visual studio, and see if you can get hello world to compile and run on that as a first step.
Go to MSDN, the Microsoft Developer Network.
https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/
The header of the page has a drop-down menu that says "Visual Studio IDE". This is the tool that you will be using to write your programs (for now, at least.) Click it, and select "Community Edition". It's free. That should take you here:
https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/thank-you-downloading-visual-studio/?sku=Community&rel=15
In the corner of that page, there is a button that says "Create your first “Hello, World!” C++ console app with Visual Studio 2017". Click the "Get Started" button, then follow the tutorial there.
https://tutorials.visualstudio.com/cpp-console/install
Start the install process per the instructions there, and get a coffee or something - I believe it will take a while.
Once you do this, you'll know that you've set things up properly. Then, you can start work on the tutorial on this site, http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ , which is okay (not great). This should get you started for the very short term. However, if you plan to continue learning C++, you should get a proper textbook as soon as possible.
It is very important to pick a book that is well-regarded by experts. There lots of bad resources out there, and beginners (and most review authors) don't have the knowledge to decide which are worth paying attention to. You can search this forum for ideas, or get one of the books on this page, which places the best-regarded books at the top:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list
See also the ISO C++ Foundation's page, in particular, the FAQ about "how to learn C++".
https://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/how-to-learn-cpp#start-learning
And https://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/how-to-learn-cpp#best-book
My suggestion is this one:
Stroustrup: "Programming: Principles and Practice using C++ (Second Edition)" Addison-Wesley 2014, ISBN 978-0-321-99278-9.
http://www.stroustrup.com/programming.html
P.S.: If you have some problem because Visual Studio is too big (e.g., your internet is too slow, you have a data cap, whatever), this can be worked around by using different, smaller tools. Just let us know.
https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/
The header of the page has a drop-down menu that says "Visual Studio IDE". This is the tool that you will be using to write your programs (for now, at least.) Click it, and select "Community Edition". It's free. That should take you here:
https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/thank-you-downloading-visual-studio/?sku=Community&rel=15
In the corner of that page, there is a button that says "Create your first “Hello, World!” C++ console app with Visual Studio 2017". Click the "Get Started" button, then follow the tutorial there.
https://tutorials.visualstudio.com/cpp-console/install
Start the install process per the instructions there, and get a coffee or something - I believe it will take a while.
Once you do this, you'll know that you've set things up properly. Then, you can start work on the tutorial on this site, http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ , which is okay (not great). This should get you started for the very short term. However, if you plan to continue learning C++, you should get a proper textbook as soon as possible.
It is very important to pick a book that is well-regarded by experts. There lots of bad resources out there, and beginners (and most review authors) don't have the knowledge to decide which are worth paying attention to. You can search this forum for ideas, or get one of the books on this page, which places the best-regarded books at the top:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list
See also the ISO C++ Foundation's page, in particular, the FAQ about "how to learn C++".
https://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/how-to-learn-cpp#start-learning
And https://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/how-to-learn-cpp#best-book
My suggestion is this one:
Stroustrup: "Programming: Principles and Practice using C++ (Second Edition)" Addison-Wesley 2014, ISBN 978-0-321-99278-9.
http://www.stroustrup.com/programming.html
P.S.: If you have some problem because Visual Studio is too big (e.g., your internet is too slow, you have a data cap, whatever), this can be worked around by using different, smaller tools. Just let us know.
Last edited on
My internet is too slow for visual studio. Can you tell me a visual studio with smaller tools please. Sent me a link.
Code::Blocks is a similar program that is substantially smaller. Don't ask me why Visual Studio is so absurdly bloated.
Go to this page:
http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/26
You need to select the file that includes "MinGW" in the name. Currently, the name of the file you need is exactly codeblocks-17.12mingw-setup.exe. It's the fourth link. Here is a direct link:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/codeblocks/files/Binaries/17.12/Windows/codeblocks-17.12mingw-setup.exe/download
cplusplus.com has a brief (outdated) tutorial:
http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/introduction/codeblocks/
Go to this page:
http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/26
You need to select the file that includes "MinGW" in the name. Currently, the name of the file you need is exactly codeblocks-17.12mingw-setup.exe. It's the fourth link. Here is a direct link:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/codeblocks/files/Binaries/17.12/Windows/codeblocks-17.12mingw-setup.exe/download
cplusplus.com has a brief (outdated) tutorial:
http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/introduction/codeblocks/
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