where to start

[tbuell]

i am just entering the world of programming. i looked at the hello world program to make it, and my first thought was word, notepad, or wordpad. i put my program in all of these but cant seem to find how to execute them. am i using the right thing, or is there some program that i need?

[Browni3141]

I wish it were that easy, but you'll need to download a compiler. Most IDE's (Integrated Developing Environments) come with one. Code::Blocks is a good IDE. You could also try MS Visual Studio.
http://www.codeblocks.org/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa718325

And this is good for testing things when you don't have your compiler handy:
http://www.codepad.org

Edit: I made the links clickable.

[Intrexa]

You need to install a compiler, so that it can compile the source code (the text that you have) into an exe binary file that you can execute.

http://gcc.gnu.org/install/

Follow those instructions

[anonymous23323124]

You can create source files in a text editor, but you must then get a separate compiler and linker and build it on the command line.

As an alternative, you can get an integrated development environment (IDE), which combines editor, compiler, linker and so forth.

The compiler converts your source code into binary object code, and the linker then sticks together your object modules with any other ones you might be using (i.e. third party libraries) to create a final executable file.

Here are some fre IDE options:
- Microsoft Visual C++ Express (don't have link, but google will find it)
- Codeblocks: http://www.codeblocks.org/
- wxDevC++

On Windows, I would recommend Visual C++, but that's just my opinion.

Regards
-Xander314