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=Introduction=
This tutorial is designed for you to learn the C/C++ language in a rapid-phased way, generally over a period of four days of intense work. Even though you will have some time with an instructor, you will have to do a lot of practice as homework in order to gain sufficient confidence as a programmer. Most of the material is ideal for self-study.

==Acknowledgment==
A number of sections of this tutorial were adopted with permission from [[Juan Soulie]]'s excellent [http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ C++ Language Tutorial] published in <tt>cplusplus.com</tt>. In many of the lessons, changes from original tutorial are minor. However, there are some important differences in a few sections. Therefore, you are advised to follow the present tutorial during the course. On the other hand, remember that [[Juan Soulie]]'s site will hopefully be updated more frequently, therefore for general look-up for help, that site will be better.

My colleague [[Billah]] helped to convert the original tutorial to this format. Thanks, [[Billah]].

==How to use this material effectively==
{{box|It is important to keep in mind that C++ and {{vcc}} are not the same thing. C++ is the language. {{vcc}} is the compiler used to build a program with that language. There are many other alternatives to {{vcc}} as compilers. These can do the task of compiling a C++ program equally well.}}
Let's face it, our mission here is not to become professional programmers. The objective is rather to become familiar with programming as a tool. Think of programming as a challenge similar to learn cycling. You need some instructions and perhaps a bit of 'pep-talk', but what is mostly needed is to go out there and do it! And then practice a lot. It may be not possible for everybody to become a racing cyclist, but anyone can learn how to ride a bike for leisure or commuting. In my decade-long experience in teaching programming as a useful tool, I never came across someone who could not master it with adequate practice.

I will help you to set up a environment where you can write and test programs. There are many good compilers out there for C++ and some of the best ones are free and open source. However, the platform we use to try-out these examples is [[{{vcc}}]] which is a free version of a commercial software. Please keep in mind that there are many other ways of doing the same thing.

If you want to install and configure [[{{vcc}}]] yourself, please follow the instructions given in [[{{vcc}}|this page]].

==Some platform related stuff==

[[{{vcc}}]] manages its files organized into 'Projects' and 'Solutions'. A 'Solution' can have several 'Projects' under it. This creates a multitude of files, that has nothing to do with C++, but just to help [[{{vcc}}]] to do the housekeeping. In the beginning, this can lead to confusion.

I have prepared a template project that you can download and extract in your working computer. Using this project will make your life much easier. Download it from [[Media:vcppee2005_template2.zip|here]] and unzip it in an empty directory. Then clicking on file <tt>cbcpp.sln</tt> should open the solution and project in [[{{vcc}}]]. The file structure will be something like the following:
<pre>
├───myprograms
│ ├───lesson1
│ ├───lesson2
│ └───lesson3
└───vsee2005stuff
│ cbcpp.ncb
│ cbcpp.sln
│ cbcpp.vcproj
│
└───Debug
BuildLog.htm
cbcpp.ilk
cbcpp.pdb
mt.dep
ptr2.obj
vc80.idb
vc80.pdb
</pre>

All the files in the folder <tt>vsee2005stuff</tt> and its sub-folders are not important for our learning tasks. Following figure shows the [[{{vcc}}]] environment with this project (and solution) open.

[[Image:vcppee2005.ep.jpg]]

In order to compile and run a program, you should write it in this environment (We will come to that in the next chapter.) This can be done by right-clicking on <tt>source files</tt>, then <tt>Add</tt>, <tt>New Item</tt>. You will get a dialog like the following.

[[Image:vcppee2005.ep2.jpg]]

Remember two things here:
* Save your source code as <tt>*.cc</tt> or <tt>*.cpp</tt> (e.g. <tt>hello.cc</tt> or <tt>hello.cpp</tt>) (<tt>Name</tt> box)
* In the <tt>Location</tt> box navigate to a sub-folder in <tt>myprograms</tt> (e.g. <tt>myprograms\lesson1</tt>. This will keep your code neatly sepearted from [[{{vcc}}]] related stuff.

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