Need help reading C++ files

[Friezan]

Hello! Im new to the world of C++ language. Obviously. And I am using http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v6.1.3.html notepad to write/practice my C++ language. I just want to know if it is suitable for for practice. Also I want to learn how to read my notes. Do I open it up with command prompt or some different tool? If you guys need more information please say so.

[MildewyTester]

To start off, you should download Code::Blocks or Microsoft Visual C++ Basic. If you are using a mac, you can just download Xcode.

[Friezan]

That should be it right?

[jorz]

or you might want to download microsoft visual studio 2010 everything is ready to use.

else you will need a compiler like gcc so you can compile your source files. just do a quick youtube tutorial on gcc and you will find out

[Friezan]

Ok I just downloadoed Visual Studio. You said something about GCC. Oh btw I read som/ewhere taht GCC is for C programing and G++ is for C++ language. Any idea

[SmallTock]

They're pretty much the same compiler, just different modes or something. Also, most code written in C can also be compiled with a C++ compiler...C++ is just an extension of C

[Friezan]

Ahh kk. Anything else I should get? So that notepad i downloaded is pretty much useless now right?

[Need4Sleep]

correct, the notepad is pretty useless once you get code::blocks(pretty biased, i personally like code::blocks).

[MildewyTester]

Why were you using notepad in the first place?

[Lowest0ne]

I don't know the "professional" use of NotePad++. It looks like it can do a bunch of stuff though. I've used it to look at the contents of a binary file (it has proper symbols for non-printable characters). It can also convert hex-that-is-ascii into actuall ASCII code. For example, given the text "41", will convert this to 'A'.

Just opened a .cpp file with it, and it does do some pretty nice formatting. If you had a standalone compiler, it would be a big step up from regular notePad.

Edit: Oh wow, it can switch between Unix/MAC/Windows end-of-line formats. Hmm...

[naraku9333]

Notepad++ is an excellent text editor that supports syntax highlighting so it is fine to code with. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it is configurable to compile as well, I just haven't looked into it. I use VS2010 for my general coding, but notepad++ for anything I need to look at quickly.

[Volatile Pulse]

N++ has the NppExec plugin, which allows command lines to be run right from within N++ it's self. I'm using it with g++ at the moment, just takes some work with everything to get it perfect.

I do still love Code::Blocks however. An IDE will blow a standard text editor out of the water when it comes to code completion, which I was greatly disappointed with N++ autocomplete.

[Friezan]

Yeah. I should've clarified I am using the linked notepad, not notepad itself. As for compiling the files I just basically combined my command prompt and my Code::blocks that way its not that much of a hastle :P

[moorecm]

Ok I just downloadoed Visual Studio. You said something about GCC. Oh btw I read som/ewhere taht GCC is for C programing and G++ is for C++ language. Any idea

GCC is the GNU Compiler Collection, which provides the gcc (for C) and g++ (for C++) commands. If I remember right, either command can detect C vs. C++ and change modes (based on file extension, perhaps).