Which IDE is better for C++ beginner

[Chris Chancellor]

Hello All


I would like to learn C++ and would like to dwell into compiling to 64bits native codes only

so i was looking in the internet, there were recommendations :

1.  Codeblocks   which some said compiled to only 32bits native and is console base

2.  Visual C++ 2017  which can compile to 64bits native,  windows base and provided you use MFC

so this means that Visual C++ 2017  would be an ideal starter for a beginner programmer like myself
i'm not sure if the above opinions are true or not as i hasn't done any programming in c++

what would be your opinion on this matter?  kindly advise
Thanxx for your advice

[Pierre Bellisle]

CodeBloc (v17.12) is more an IDE, and need some compilers to acheive it's goal.
If you install it with both GNU GCC Compiler(x32) andr GNU GCC Compiler(x64)
then you will be able to compile both 32 and 64 bit.
Look in Setting / Compiler / Selected compiler / GNU GCC Compiler(x32) or GNU GCC Compiler(x64) and set the default.
CodeBloc with both compiler is liteweight so it do not need much space on drive.

Another one: DevCPP IDE is no more updated but still give an interesting learning environment for the same GNU GCC Compiler(x32) or GNU GCC Compiler(x64).

MS Visual C++ is by far the most advanced environment and the absolute way to go long term in my opinion.

I think that having the 3 installed give the choice to use what is more meaningful at particular time for the coder...

Also, on this forum, Patrice wrote many good things about C++..

[Patrice Terrier]

MS Visual C++ is by far the most advanced environment and the absolute way to go long term in my opinion.

No dispute there, it is years ahead of everything else, and remember that the VS 2017 community version, is totaly FREE. 

[Chris Chancellor]

Thanxx a lot Pierre and Patrice

by the way, as for VS 2017,  it is true that we need to compile using MFC  in order to get native code ?
bcos native code is better than managed code


MFC = Microsoft Foundation Class

[Pierre Bellisle]

Forgot to say... Whatever the compiler you use, doing the complete tutorial at http://www.cplusplus.com/ is real nice way to start as I see it.

[Patrice Terrier]

MFC, i never use it...

Plain SDK programming has always been my moto, and it is the same whatever the language being used.
This is also the only way to produce small, lean, and fast efficient code, even in 64-bit.

[Chris Chancellor]

Thanxx Patrice and Pierre

[Frederick J. Harris]

Sorry I didn't reply earlier.  I'm in the US state of Colorado building a log cabin there.  Just got electricity connected last week, and just got an internet connection about two hours ago. 

All the advice given above is sound.  Like others stated, the Code::Blocks IDE can be configured to use any compiler including any version of Mingw or MSVC.  It can be a trial though to get it working.  I'd recommend using a stock setup until you become familiar with C or C++.  There isn't much difference between building 32 bit or 64 bit executables.  The language in large degree insulates you from the differences. 

More and more I do command line compiling for my C++ apps.  You might want to examine my tutorials on that. 

[Chris Chancellor]

Thanxx Fred

Where can i get  good beginners tutorials of C++?

[Frederick J. Harris]

I think that's a tougher question than most would think it should be Chris.  If you would go to www.cprogramming.com and ask that question you would be immediately told to get Bjarn Stroustrup's books (creator of C++). 

C++ is evolving very rapidly.  Its now nothing like it was 20 years ago. 

So one possible answer to your question, and many would consider the right answer, is to get some beginner book that utilizes the new features of the language.

However, I have never attacked C++ in that manner.  Originally, and a long time ago, I taught myself plain old C.  Later I taught myself C++ because the object oriented improvements to the C language enabled syntactically clear implementations of String Classes and dynamic arrays like in the Basic family languages.  So pretty much I use C++ in a simple and old fashioned way.

The powers that be in the C++ universe seem to me to be morphing the language into C#.  That's just my opinion.

Maybe these thoughts tell you why I have a hard time answering your question.  Maybe it would have been easier if I said I just didn't know.  Maybe some others here have ideas on this. 

I suppose another aspect of the issue is that with the demise of PowerBASIC I was simply looking for a way to code in C++ as close to PowerBASIC as possible.  To do that you really don't need all the bells and whistles of the recent changes to C++.  All you really need are classes to encapsulate the kinds of things PowerBASIC does so well such as String handling and dynamic array allocations. 

The other thing that makes C++ somewhat problematic for many PowerBASIC coders is the size of the binaries C++ produces.  That's actually an issue of the libraries used by C++ coders rather than an issue with C++.  As a matter of fact, smaller binaries can be produced by C++ than PowerBASIC can produce.  But to do that is very difficult and very few C++ coders would even know how to do that. 

So you see, C++ is a rather difficult topic, and its hard for me to recommend any particular book.

[Chris Chancellor]

Thanxx a lot Fred

i just bought a Beginner Visual C++ book.  Yes, i have programmed in VB.net and C#  so hopefully i could master C++
soon enough,  as there are lot's of stuff we can program using C++