Can someone plz help me set up a design environment (including a method of compilation) for C++ on Windows 7 computer?

Everything hates me.



Also: anyone know how to draw to the screen.  Like in axe you can use Pt-On() and Pxl-On()

I recommend installing MingW. However, if you're a beginner Code::Blocks installs it together with the Code::Blocks IDE.

Drawing to the screen? You need a graphics library such as OpenGL or SDL. I recommend SDL or SFML. You can also use a GUI Toolkit, such as GTK, Qt or wxWidgets.

On Windows, you'll be tempted to use win32 or DirectX. If you want to keep your program cross-platform, never use those.

Ok, a good compiler that's easy to set up is called MinGW. Download the installer here

Then run the installer and install MinGW to a directory without spaces. The best place is the default C:/MinGW/

After that, go ahead and add it to your path by right clicking on "My Computer" then "Properties" then "Advanced System Settings" and finally, "Environment Variables". In the System variables field scroll down till you find "PATH". Click on it and then hit edit. Copy/Paste the directory to MinGW/bin/ onto the end of the path and add a semicolon.

And you have your compilation. A good IDE to use is code::blocks. Just download the windows installer and run it and you can compile with F9.

For drawing on the screen, use a library such as SFML or SDL. Just add the files in the "include" folder inside the libraries to "MinGW/include" and the same for "lib".

Hope that helps!

EDIT: Ninja'd

Visual Studio's been working great for me for over 2 years now. Granted I've never tried anything else, but setting up your environment is as simple as installing the program.

One of the things I love about it is that it red underlines stuff that it knows is going to cause a compiler error, that definitely improves your C++ skills

I hate Visual studios in general.  They lock everything down to be just windows.... just like TI does to their products :\
It reminds me of the Zune

Ok  next question.

OpenGL or SDL?
I want something easy to quickly use/ learn.  And, I will probably be able to stay with in the future.

Ok  next question.

OpenGL or SDL?
I want something easy to quickly use/ learn.  And, I will probably be able to stay with in the future.

Do you already know the C++ syntax? It's a bit risky to jump right in to image libraries.

Either way, I recommend SDL or SFML too. SFML is younger and doesn't have much documentation. SDL is older (which can be bad) but it has more documentation and more programmers using it.

ok thanks.  I am a lisle fluent in C++ due to Axe and a month of C.
So SDL then?

I think I wouldn't need to know much to port Sniper101 to computer

Sniper 101, hein?. I want to help