Chapter 1: Getting Started

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Every journey begins with a single step, and in ours it's getting to the point where you can compile, link,
run, and debug C++ programs. This depends on what operating system you have, so in this section we'll
see how to get a C++ project up and running under Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Compiling C++ Programs under Windows

This section assumes that you are using Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 (VS2005). If you are a current
CS106B/X student, you can follow the directions on the course website to obtain a copy. Otherwise, be
prepared to shell out some cash to get your own copy, though it is definitely a worthwhile investment. * Al-
ternatively, you can download Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition, a free version of Microsoft's development
environment sporting a fully-functional C++ compiler. The express edition of Visual C++ lacks support for
advanced Windows development, but is otherwise a perfectly fine C++ compiler. You can get Visual C++
2008 Express Edition from http://www.microsoft.com/express/vc/. With only a few minor changes, the
directions for using VS2005 should also apply to Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition, so this section will only
cover VS2005.

VS2005 organizes C++ code into “projects,” collections of source and header files that will be built into a
program. The first step in creating a C++ program is to get an empty C++ project up and running, then to
populate it with the necessary files. To begin, open VS2005 and from the File menu choose New > Pro-
ject.... You should see a window that looks like this:

* I first began programming in C++ in 2001 using Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, which cost roughly eighty dollars. I re-
cently (2008) switched to Visual Studio 2005. This means that the compiler cost just over ten dollars a year. Con -
sidering the sheer number of hours I have spent programming, this was probably the best investment I have
made.
- 12 - Chapter 1: Getting Started

As you can see, VS2005 has template support for all sorts of different projects, most of which are for Mi-
crosoft-specific applications such as dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) or ActiveX controls. We're not particu-
larly interested in most of these choices – we just want a simple C++ program! To create one, find and
choose Win32 Console Application. Give your project an appropriate name, then click OK. You should
now see a window that looks like this, which will ask you to configure project settings:

Note that the window title will have the name of the project you entered in the previous step in its title;
“Yet Another C++ Program” is a placeholder.

At this point, you do not want to click Finish. Instead, hit Next > and you'll be presented with the follow-
ing screen:
Chapter 1: Getting Started - 13 -

Keep all of the default settings listed here, but make sure that you check the box marked Empty Project.
Otherwise VS2005 will give you a project with all sorts of Microsoft-specific features built into it. Once
you've checked that box, click Finish and you'll have a fully functional (albeit empty) C++ project.

Now, it's time to create and add some source files to this project so that you can enter C++ code. To do this,
go to Project > Add New Item... (or press CTRL+SHIFT+A). You'll be presented with the following dialog
box:
- 14 - Chapter 1: Getting Started

Choose C++ File (.cpp) and enter a name for it inside the Name field. VS2005 automatically appends .cpp
to the end of the filename, so don't worry about manually entering the extension. Once you're ready, click
Add and you should have your source file ready to go. Any C++ code you enter in here will be considered
by the compiler and built into your final application.

Once you've written the source code, you can compile and run your programs by pressing F5, choosing
Debug> Start Debugging, or clicking the green “play” icon. By default VS2005 will close the console win -
dow after your program finishes running, and if you want the window to persist after the program finishes
executing you can run the program without debugging by pressing CTRL+F5 or choosing Debug > Start
Without Debugging. You should be all set to go!

Compiling C++ Programs in Mac OS X

If you're developing C++ programs on Mac OS X, your best option is to use Apple's Xcode development en-
vironment. You can download Xcode free of charge from the Apple Developer Connection website at
http://developer.apple.com/.

Once you've downloaded and installed Xcode, it's reasonably straightforward to create a new C++ project.
Open Xcode. The first time that you run the program you'll get a nice welcome screen, which you're free to
peruse but which you can safely dismiss. To create a C++ project, choose File > New Project.... You'll be
presented with a screen that looks like this:
Chapter 1: Getting Started - 15 -

There are a lot of options here, most of which are Apple-specific or use languages other than C++ (such as
Java or Objective-C). In the panel on the left side of the screen, choose Command Line Utility and you will
see the following options:

Select C++ Tool and click the Choose... button. You'll be prompted for a project name and directory; feel
free to choose whatever name and location you'd like. In this example I've used the name “Yet Another C+
- 16 - Chapter 1: Getting Started

+ Project,” though I suggest you pick a more descriptive name. Once you've made your selection, you'll see
the project window, which looks like this:

Notice that your project comes prepackaged with a file called main.cpp. This is a C++ source file that will
be compiled and linked into the final program. By default, it contains a skeleton implementation of the
Hello, World! program, as shown here:
Chapter 1: Getting Started - 17 -

Feel free to delete any of the code you see here and rewrite it as you see fit.

Because the program we've just created is a command-line utility, you will need to pull up the console win-
dow to see the output from your program. You can do this by choosing Run > Console or by pressing
⇑⌘R. Initially the console will be empty, as shown here:

Once you've run your program, the output will be displayed here in the console. You can run the program
by clicking the Build and Go button (the hammer next to a green circle containing an arrow). That's it!
You now have a working C++ project.

If you're interested in compiling programs from the Mac OS X terminal, you might find the following sec -
tion on Linux development useful.

Compiling C++ Programs under Linux

For those of you using a Linux-based operating system, you're in luck – Linux is extremely de-
veloper-friendly and all of the tools you'll need are at your disposal from the command-line.

Unlike the Windows or Mac environments, when compiling code in Linux you won't need to set up a devel-
opment environment using Visual Studio or Xcode. Instead, you'll just set up a directory where you'll put
and edit your C++ files, then will directly invoke the GNU C++ Compiler ( g++) from the command-line.

If you're using Linux I'll assume that you're already familiar with simple commands like mkdir and chdir
and that you know how to edit and save a text document. When writing C++ source code, you'll probably
want to save header files with the .h extension and C++ files with the .cc, .cpp, .C, or .c++ extension. The .cc
extension seems to be in vogue these days, though .cpp is also quite popular.

To compile your source code, you can execute g++ from the command line by typing g++ and then a list of
the files you want to compile. For example, to compile myfile.cc and myotherfile.cc, you'd type

g++ myfile.cc myotherfile.cc

By default, this produces a file named a.out, which you can execute by entering ./a.out. If you want to
change the name of the program to something else, you can use g++'s -o switch, which produces an output
file of a different name. For example, to create an executable called myprogram from the file myfile.cc, you
could write

g++ myfile.cc -o myprogram

g++ has a whole host of other switches (such as -c to compile but not link a file), so be sure to consult the
man pages for more info.

It can get tedious writing out the commands to compile every single file in a project to form a finished ex-
ecutable, so most Linux developers use makefiles, scripts which allow you to compile an entire project by
typing the make command. A full tour of makefiles is far beyond the scope of an introductory C++ text, but
fortunately there are many good online tutorials on how to construct a makefile. The full manual for make
is available online at http://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html.

Other Development Tools

If you are interested in using other development environments than the ones listed above, you're in luck.
There are dozens of IDEs available that work on a wide range of platforms. Here's a small sampling:

• NetBeans: The NetBeans IDE supports C++ programming and is highly customizable. It also is
completely cross-platform compatible, so you can use it on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

• MinGW: MinGW is a port of common GNU tools to Microsoft Windows, so you can use tools like
g++ without running Linux. Many large software projects use MinGW as part of their build envir-
onment, so you might want to explore what it offers you.

• Eclipse: This popular Java IDE can be configured to run as a C++ compiler with a bit of additional
effort. If you're using Windows you might need to install some additional software to get this IDE
working, but otherwise it should be reasonably straightforward to configure.

• Sun Studio: If you're a Linux user and command-line hacking isn't your cup of tea, you might want
to consider installing Sun Studio, Sun Microsystem's C++ development environment, which has a
wonderful GUI and solid debugging support.

• Qt Creator: This Linux-based IDE is designed to build C++ programs using the open-source Qt lib -
raries, but is also an excellent general-purpose C++ IDE. It is a major step above what the terminal
and your favorite text editor have to offer, and I highly recommend that you check this program out
if you're a Linux junkie.