NetBeans makefile missing

[NetHacker]

OK, so I understand C++ as a language well enough (I'm in the fourth quarter of a C++ class in school) but I've never been taught about the "behind-the-scenes"--compilers, debuggers, libraries, makefiles, etc. are somewhat of a mystery to me. Anyway, I've been missing school (today included) and desperately need to catch up on the programs we've been writing.

I downloaded NetBeans so I could compile my code but it told me the make was missing or invalid when I tried to compile a hello world program (just to try it out). Even though I selected an IDE-generated makefile, the 'Make Command' field is blank. I clicked the 'Versions...' button and a 'Version Information' window popped up. It says:

C Compiler: gcc-4 (GCC) 4.5.3
C++ Compiler: g++-4 (GCC) 4.5.3
Fortran Compiler: not found
Assembler: GNU assembler (GNU Binutils) 2.22.51.20111013
Make Tool: not found
Debugger: not found
QMake Tool: not found
CMake Tool: not found

I don't really know what most of this means but it looked important...does anyone know which of these that are not found are required and where I can download them? Please help, all I know is how to write C++, I don't understand any of this other stuff. I just need to code while I'm away from school.

P.S. Is there a website which could provide tutorials on all the behind-the-scenes stuff so I'm not helpless like this again in the future?

Thanks!

[ui uiho]

You forgot to install the make file. Try eclipse if you reinstall it and it still won't find it, make sure you select Cygwin for net beans

[NetHacker]

I attempted to reinstall NetBeans but it said everything had already been downloaded. I'm now installing Eclipse. I'll tell you how that goes. Thanks for your help!

[ui uiho]

i meant reinstall cygwin but eclipse is the compiler i would suggest more than net beans.

[NetHacker]

Thank you for clarifying. I'm reinstalling Cygwin but I have no idea which packages to select. Where can I find a list of required packages such as the make tool?

EDIT: I reinstalled Cygwin and chose the Make Tool but NetBeans still says the Makefile is missing...

[ui uiho]

i can not remember which files you need, sorry about that. try using google, that is my only idea. did you get eclipse to work?

[NetHacker]

Eclipse told me that the filename was too long to be saved in the set destination. I saved them in another destination but now it says it can't find some of the required files. I need to reinstall it obviously but I don't know how to get past the problem of the filename being too long.

EDIT: OK, I reinstalled Eclipse successfully, but where can I pick up a JRE or JDK?

[NetHacker]

I finally downloaded MinGW. At least I have a compiler now! Thanks for your help, and sorry for taking your time.

[ui uiho]

no problem, happy to help.