Visual C++ or C++?
Author
As of the last month I have been learning C++ but I am not sure if I should learn C++ or Visual C++ I keep hearing about the two and i am not very sure which would be better for game programming please help
Visual C++ is better because you can see it. Actually, Visual C++ is the name of an ide program by Microsoft that eases the production of C++ language programs. C++ is a language that can be written using any number of compilers.
Learn C++ first.
Visual C++ is nothing more than a C++ compiler like Fruny said, that "translates" all the things you do visually (forms etc) into MFC calls. So learning Visual C++ will most likely end up in you becoming lazy and rely on drawing your applications instead of coding them yourself ;)
if you want to do forms later on, learn C++ and MFC. From there, you could go to visual C++ and have a excellent understanding on how everything works, etc.
Visual C++ is nothing more than a C++ compiler like Fruny said, that "translates" all the things you do visually (forms etc) into MFC calls. So learning Visual C++ will most likely end up in you becoming lazy and rely on drawing your applications instead of coding them yourself ;)
if you want to do forms later on, learn C++ and MFC. From there, you could go to visual C++ and have a excellent understanding on how everything works, etc.
Most confusion of this sort comes from those stupid "Teach yourself Visual C++ in 12 seconds" books, those usually deal with is MFC, not (particularly) C++.
Quote:Visual C++ is nothing more than a C++ compiler like Fruny said, that "translates" all the things you do visually (forms etc) into MFC calls. So learning Visual C++ will most likely end up in you becoming lazy and rely on drawing your applications instead of coding them yourself ;)
First I've heard of this.
OK, to set the record straight.
Visual C++ is a product shipped by Microsoft. It includes the following:
A C++ Standard complying compiler (not 100% but it's one of the best C++ compilers you can get, as long as you get the one with Visual C++ .NET 2003 (aka version 7.1) or the one bundled in the free downloadable toolkit from Microsoft).
Various C++ libraries, incl.: ATL, MFC, the Win32SDK, ASP.NET (for web services only), ATL Server, .NET (aka MC++)
An integrated development environment (IDE)
Documentation (help files)
An integrated debugger (as expected from a proper IDE).
So, it really doesn't make sense to ask "Should I learn C++ or Visual C++". Visual C++ is a tool for the utilization of the programming language C++.
My advice to you is this:
1. Learn C++ as described by the ANSI/ISO Standard. To do this get a good C++ text book which teaches proper (aka Standard) C++. Such a book could be "The C++ Programming Langauge", "Accelerated C++", "You Can Do It! A Beginner's Introduction To Computer Programming", "Absolute C++", "Problem Solving with C++: The Object of Programming", or "C++ Primer".
2. Then learn how to use the STL (the library that comes with Standard C++). For this I recommend: "C++ Standard Library : A tutorial and reference".
3. Decide if you need and want to learn a C++ application framework. For example one could be MFC, another one could be wxWidgets, yet another one Visual Component Framework (VCF). For game programming skip this step and go straight to a graphics framework such as OpenGL or DirectX.
Visual C++ is a product shipped by Microsoft. It includes the following:
So, it really doesn't make sense to ask "Should I learn C++ or Visual C++". Visual C++ is a tool for the utilization of the programming language C++.
My advice to you is this:
1. Learn C++ as described by the ANSI/ISO Standard. To do this get a good C++ text book which teaches proper (aka Standard) C++. Such a book could be "The C++ Programming Langauge", "Accelerated C++", "You Can Do It! A Beginner's Introduction To Computer Programming", "Absolute C++", "Problem Solving with C++: The Object of Programming", or "C++ Primer".
2. Then learn how to use the STL (the library that comes with Standard C++). For this I recommend: "C++ Standard Library : A tutorial and reference".
3. Decide if you need and want to learn a C++ application framework. For example one could be MFC, another one could be wxWidgets, yet another one Visual Component Framework (VCF). For game programming skip this step and go straight to a graphics framework such as OpenGL or DirectX.
most confusing topic i have ever seen.... how can u get information from this junk? listen. C++ is a PROGRAMMING language, and visual c++ is a program to that lets you PROGRAM in c++. All visual c++ does is compiling what u write in c++. there are more compilers like borland c++ and dev-cpp. Those are just for the compiling of the actual programming language you write in, and thats c++. so dont get confused by the names.
Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
most confusing topic i have ever seen.... how can u get information from this junk? listen. C++ is a PROGRAMMING language, and visual c++ is a program to that lets you PROGRAM in c++. All visual c++ does is compiling what u write in c++. there are more compilers like borland c++ and dev-cpp. Those are just for the compiling of the actual programming language you write in, and thats c++. so dont get confused by the names.
Your answer is not much more useful: ok, c++ is a programming language, but VC++, Borland C++ and Dev-cpp are not compilers (or, at least not only): they are IDE's. So, C++ is a language, gcc is a compiler and VC++ is an IDE (read the post of rohde).
Actually, I've heard many people pretend to know Java, C++, [insert a randomly selected language], Visual C++ (yes, exactly as C++ and Visual C++ were different languages). I think they refer to the additions and the differences between standard C++ and the one implemented by Microsoft (yes, now the things are different).
Author
Thanks, this really helps i wasn't sure at first but thanks, now i can at least learn C++ without doubts that im learning useless information.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
