This material can be shared as widely as you want, and I welcome feedback. I tend to over-write and then simplify in later revisions, as you might be able to tell from all of those long pages [;<).

My recommendations are on-line at http://ODMA.info/active/ODMref10/tools/Q050903b.htm

I also have some suggestions to make on downloading and setting up Microsoft Visual C++ Toolkit 2003. There are placeholders for now. I’ll let you know when there is something useful.

I welcome review on all of this materials.

I’ll put my notes on a web page or two and tell you where to find them when they are ready. I’ll be doing that Thursday morning (Pacific Daylight Time = gmt - 0700).

Meanwhile, unless you are going to make real Windows applications, you can get a long ways with the Toolkit. I have some tips for you. My first tip is do not create projects in the C:\Program Files\ directory even though that’s what the examples do. That’s a bad practice. If you haven’t tripped over it, it probably means you’re running as Administrator or a Power user. The toolkit has no need for special privileges and it is better to operate as a limited user. It will save you from bugs caused by your first programs crashing and damaging something while they do it.

This does mean you’ll need to customize the batch files that setup what the toolkit programs need to find everything. I have done that once and I need to do it again. I’m in a small crunch to produce a draft document, but this weekend may be a good time for me to post some tips and samples that may help you as well as people who may want to try out my project samples.

Check the book to see the kinds of programs you will be writing. If there are actual Windows applications, the Toolkit is insufficient. Although you can download the Platform SDK (or pay under $10 shipping to get a CD-ROM) and have all of the libraries you need, there are other tools that are needed for building a full-up Windows GUI application. The easy way to get those is with an educational version of Visual Studio. The Borland Builder that comes with some books may be a good alternative too.

I’ll look while I’m in bookstores tomorrow.

Teresa - I’m taking this class online, and something happened with the first teacher, so they had someone else jump in and take over. I think that this new teacher is just winging it. I’ve heard good things about Borland’s C compiler; I will have to take a look at it. Thanks for stopping by!

I’ve used older versions of Borland’s C compiler and I was always happy with them. As for your teacher - possibly he could suggest one that he likes or that the school offers at a discounted price.

What your teacher needs to know is that he has a compiler that can recompile the code you send to him. (Although I never had a teacher recompile my code - I would just turn in the printed out text file and the results pages along with the floppy disk - yeah this was years ago) I find this interesting because schools used to give you the compiler - or tell you which one you needed for the class.

Finally, I’ll be near a convenient Barnes & Noble on Wednesday when I go near a shopping center to donate blood. If you’re still looking by then, I’ll take another look for good starter texts on programming and C++ that include the necessary software.