Expert: Zlatko - 8/8/2010

Question
QUESTION: i want to develop some appliction in in c++.can you give me some idea about any such projects .i am not getting useful material on google.
i am not comfortable with visual studio and using devcpp compiler but now i want to switch to visual studio . tell me how to start.
thanks

ANSWER: Hello Deepak

If you want to switch to visual studio, you can get a free visual studio c++ express edition from Microsoft at:

http://www.microsoft.com/express/Downloads/#2010-Visual-CPP

It is free and legitimate.

You can get videos for visual studio express edition here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualc/aa336415.aspx
The videos are for the 2005 edition, but the beginner ideas are the same. Also, you can google for videos.

I cannot give you a good application idea because I do not know your level of experience. One of my first projects was a card game called blackjack. If you are a beginner, a simple game without graphics would be good.

I hope that helps.
Best regards
Zlatko

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: is it useful to learn developing application for 16bit environment?

Answer
The fundamentals of programming can be learned with any computer architecture (8 bit, 16 bit, or bigger) and can be learned in any programming language so for learning the basics, it is useful. However, if you want to learn what is being used in industry, you should try to get a more modern environment.

There are some disadvantages to using an older environment that you should keep in mind.

1) You won't be able to get a modern visual studio to work on a 16 bit machine.

2) For C++, some of the more advanced language features are quite new, and a compiler built for a 16 bit environment will not know about such features. Templates and namespaces are 2 such examples.

3) The older 16 bit architectures use ideas that are no longer used in more modern architectures. For example, the idea of near and far pointers, and the idea of choosing a memory model for your program (tiny,  small, medium, compact, large, huge) are no longer used.

My advice is to get at least a 32 bit machine soon, even an old one running XP if you are serious about programming as a career. If you cannot get one, at least learn about the new language features from books.

Good luck and best regards.
Zlatko