Which IDE is Best for Learning C++ on Windows 7?

[slimjims]

So I've been exposed to C a little with Arduinos and I've been wanting to learn some C++ for a while. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what software I should start with. Right now I kinda need my computer for school so I'd prefer to keep it neat and not install a bunch of tiny programs all over the place, some sort of easy-to-install IDE would be great. Oh yeah, I'm running Windows 7 right now.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Ivan92]

A small little compiler/debugger I use for linux (also works for Windows) is Code Lite. It gets the job done. Our school uses Visual Studio 2010 or VS 2008 Express I don't remember but they are kind of big. As for learning C++, are you willing to buy books or want something online? If online, I would suggest you read the stickies this subforum regarding C++. It is great for beginners. Then you can go over this and look up more advanced concepts.

http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/

Good luck!

Update: We do use Visual C++ 2008 at our school.

 

[TylerH]

Code::Blocks is a good idea, similar (but lesser) to VS in features but A LOT smaller.

Have you learned C style OOP, yet? If not, I highly recommend doing so, and creating a small library based off it. It will give you a deeper understanding of the pain C style OOP causes, and the reasoning behind classes and C++ style OOP. I found that to be important in my true understanding of why C++ deserves the "++."

As for cplusplus.com, the site recommended by Ivan, I wholly support the suggestion. That site's tutorials taught me almost everything I didn't learn from experience and it's reference on the standard library continues to be helpful, even after more than 2 years of knowing and using C++.

 

[phinds]

The BIG thing, I think, i learning C++ when you already know C is that you have to disabuse yourself of the notion that they are related in any but the must trivial ways due to having the same underlying syntax of simple statements. The CONCEPTS of OOP just aren't there in C, so you are learning, not a new language but a new way of programming.

 

[slimjims]

thanks so much for the responses. I've been exposed a little to object oriented programming, but it was mostly conceptual and I've never actually applied it. But these seem like some great resources. Are there any major differences between the two IDE's?(Code lite and Code::Blocks)

 

[TylerH]

thanks so much for the responses. I've been exposed a little to object oriented programming, but it was mostly conceptual and I've never actually applied it. But these seem like some great resources. Are there any major differences between the two IDE's?(Code lite and Code::Blocks)

You can compare them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_integrated_development_environments#C.2FC.2B.2B

They both use wxWidgets, so they'll be similar in look 'n' feel. Other than that, I can't say much, because I've not used CodeLite other than to try it.