1. Creating a Basic Program

Writing applications in C++ is a multistep process. You must first define the purpose and needs of the application. Once you know explicitly what an application should do, you can begin the actual coding. When you finish programming, you then compile the C++ code into an executable application. If the compilation process worked, you can then run the executable application to see the results of your hard work. In reality, of course, there’s an interim step of debugging, debugging, and debugging, followed by a wee bit more debugging.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to program, compile, and run a C++ application. The information presented and the techniques described in this chapter will be the foundation for all of the book’s subsequent material, as well as the basis for your life as a C++ programmer.