[Quantum8]

I am about to start a C++ course and I would really appreciate some info on how to use the terminal.app to do some programming. I have installed ProjectBuilder but it seems complicated to use - all I need is to write simple programs for now.

I know you can use Textedit to write the program. Then use "c++" in terminal to compile it. But how do you run it?

Is it similar to Java where you can use "javac" to compile and "java" to run?

If I got any of this stuff wrong please tell me!

[parallax]

If you're doing it solely from the terminal...

Write a text file, call it something like "main.cpp"

I've never used c++, but I assume the command line syntax is identical to cc, do a "man c++" (which will probably head you to the dev. documentation) for options.

c++ -o program main.c

The -o will make a program named "program"; without the -o it'll be a.out (I believe).

Then type ./<program name> (e.g. ./a.out) to run the thing.

[Quantum8]

Thanks. I will try that as soon as I get home.

Incidentally, what I know comes from reading this forum. Should I be using "cc" and not "c++" to compile my code? It seems everybody is using it and nobody mentions "c++" at all.

[Olof]

Don't forget the :

chmod u+x <program name>

to have the permission to execute it !!!

[parallax]

c++ should automatically write your permissions correctly.

cc is for ObjC and C, c++ is C++ (to my knowledge).

[Angus_D]

cc is generally for C, I think all c++ does is invokes cc with the right commands so that it compiles C++, i'm pretty sure you can compile C++ using cc with some flags... Unsure though.

[Quantum8]

Yay! I tried using c++ and it seems to work. The output is the same as in the book I am using. I will try cc and see if it makes a difference but not sure about those flags though.

Thank you! You've all been a big help to a real beginner!