Hello everyone Well now that I know the basics of C++ (finished the little teach yourself book) I need to know where to move on. I want to move into programming windows apps and games, and I''m not very clear on the differences between them. Questions: -what are the differences between then -aren''t they pretty much the same launguage except with different compiler (microsoft visual c++ or whatever) -where else can i move into I also here a lot about different programs being tossed around, SDL and Allegro (sp?). Are these free programs, if they are can someone link them for me. thanks.

C++ is a programming language while Visual C++ is a programming IDE(?Intergrated development Enviroment?) Basically its a bunch of tools and a compiler to help you program C++ and a very good one at that.

Allegro and SDL are API''s(Application programming Interface) it allows you to call functions to draw graphics to the screen. They are both cross-platform portable and very easy to use. If your looking to make some of your first games I suggest you try going to their websites and looking over their tutorials.

As where to find them do a search on www.google.com for SDL and Allegro I''m sure their homepage will be there.

If you know the C++ language fairly well go ahead and move on to graphics programming - I''m sure you will like it(if thats your thing)

Correct me if I''m wrong, but Visual C++ is more of a Microsoft creation. It uses libraries that are Windows based. It''s still C++ because that''s the language it uses. It''s just got extra stuff that regular C++ doesn''t come with (if that makes sense).

quote: Original post by Whackjack
It''s just got extra stuff that regular C++ doesn''t come with (if that makes sense).

C++ would be a pretty useless language if you could only use the standard libraries and nothing else


"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." -- George Bernhard Shaw

C++ is a programming language. Visual C++ is an IDE (compiler, linker, editor, and some other related tools). What other libraries Microsoft packs in with the compiler is of no consequence, and does not make it an entirely different language. It''s still a C++ compiler, like any other. C++ has it''s own ISO standard from which most C++ compilers derive (some more well than others). Comparing C++ to Visual C++ is like comparing orange juice to Sunkist.