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Socoder -> C/C++/C#/Other -> Sams C++ in 24 Hours and Borland C++ BuilderX Problems |
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| Fri, 09 May 2008, 14:30 | |
shroom_monk
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I recently bought Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours, so I could try learning C++. The book comes with a CD containing Borland C++ BuilderX, so that you can compile your code. Unfortunately, try as I might, it won't install! The book is a few years old, and Borland seem to be discontinuing this software or something, but I don't see why this means the installer won't work. My situation: I'm trying to install this on my laptop, running Vista. The book says I need an installer key, but I need to get that from the web. I've tried, but it just says that you need to enter a certain code that they give, once the install is finished. But here's the problem: it won't! The silly 'InstallAnywhere by Zero G' installer software gets as far as me clicking Install to set it going, then just sits there with no loading bar or information, doing nothing. If I click Cancel, if asks if I want to do that, then cancels, leaving the following installation log: That's what it said last time. So it seems to be getting to making Registry Entries, then just getting stuck. Anyway, can anyone point me in the right direction to fixing this? Or, failing that, point me in the direction of a free C++ compiler I can get from the internet? Thanks. -=-=- A mushroom a day keeps the doctor away... Keep It Simple, Shroom! |
| Fri, 09 May 2008, 15:20 | |
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mike_g |
It could be Vista; Vista broke/mangled backwards compatibility in many ways. I have the same book that came with the same compiler. I got fed up with the silly registration process so I switched to using Dev-C++ instead. Dev-C++ is lightweight, it doeset try and add a ton of unwanted headers, and you can compile single files with it which makes it nicer for a beginner doing small projects than MS VC++. However there are a few issues with getting Dev-C++ to work on Vista these are to do with with UAE and paths. You want to install it outside of program files, or give it full administrative priveliges. And you may need to specify the paths and libraries and stuff. If I were you I'd have a go at installing DevC++. VC++ is also a very powerful IDE which you might want to look at later, or if you find devc++ is too much of a pain to get working. Codeblocks is another IDE thats meant to be good; I havent used it much myself tho. Whatever IDE you chose you should be able to run all the code from the book. Have fun with it. |
| Fri, 09 May 2008, 16:04 | |
JL235
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First: try leaving it for a ages (like an hour). Maybe the bar is just broken or takes ages to get going. Second: when you run the installer right click on it and 'run as administrator'. I know with AVG (or at least when Vista first came out) that was necessary for it to fully install correctly. Third: try the various versions of Windows in the age old compatability mode in the installers properties. Finally: although I have had compatability problems with Vista it's always been pretty rare and pretty trivial for me. I had far more problems when I first started running XP. Personally I find Vista's backwards compatability to be pretty good. |
| Fri, 09 May 2008, 16:14 | |
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mike_g |
I wouldent use a borland IDE. My college has them installed and they suck. Also not many people use borland anymore. DevC++ hasent been worked on for some time now, but its a very nice simple IDE.
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| Sat, 10 May 2008, 00:45 | |
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shroom_monk
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Thanks guys!  I think I'm going to go with mike_g's suggestion, since it sounds like the best option, although I'll bare in mind JL's points for future attempts at installing on Vista... @Agent Smith: C++ is something I've wanted to try for a while now, for various reasons. As for Vista, I initially wouldn't have chosen it, but you couldn't get XP on any of the laptops I could find (at a reasonable price). With Vista, when it works, it works well. When it doesn't work, this topic gets made.  |edit| Oh, and this is the 4th edition of the book. |edit| -=-=- A mushroom a day keeps the doctor away... Keep It Simple, Shroom! |
| Sat, 10 May 2008, 01:01 | |
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shroom_monk
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Well, I installed Dev-C++, and it all installed perfectly fine, without any problems. Thanks mike_g!
-=-=- A mushroom a day keeps the doctor away... Keep It Simple, Shroom! |
| Sat, 10 May 2008, 06:16 | |
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JL235
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Just to put it out there, as some more alternatives Emacs with GCC and G++ was a pretty good combination back when I used Ubuntu. Emacs in a terminal is probably my favourite text editor. On Windows you can get them through CygWin but I often go all the way and use NetBeans 6 instead.
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| Sat, 10 May 2008, 06:23 | |
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mike_g |
 Just to put it out there, as some more alternatives Emacs with GCC and G++ was a pretty good combination back when I used Ubuntu. Emacs in a terminal is probably my favourite text editor. On Windows you can get them through CygWin but I often go all the way and use NetBeans 6 instead. Have you used the C/C++ pluging for Netbeans? If so is it any good? I like netbeans a lot. Currently I tend to most my C coding in gedit and compile using the CL pluging. I find that Linux is so much nicer than windows for CL progs, but I havent tried cygwin yet. Dev C++ uses GCC/G++, but the compilers run slower on windows than they do on Linux. |
| Sat, 10 May 2008, 06:59 | |
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JL235
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I've not used it alot, and it was mainly for C, but when I used to use it for some programming assignments it always seemed pretty good. However it doesn't come with any C/C++ compilers and instead you need to get them and the debugger yourself. I used Cygwin for that. I believe on Solaris the Sun Studio pack comes with NetBeans and Sun's own C and C++ compilers. How do you mean about speed? When it's compiling or when it's running? |
| Sat, 10 May 2008, 07:14 | |
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mike_g |
The netbeans C plugin was one of the things I planned on having a play around with but never got round to. I heard you have to specify a compiler and debugger path, but that shouldent be too hard. By the GCC/G++ speed thing I was refering to compile time, which is only really noticable for large builds. But considering its made primarily for linux I wouldent be suprised if it was better at optimising for it too. |
| Wed, 05 Aug 2009, 11:01 | |
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kentgbailey |
I too just bought that book "Teach Yourself C++ in 24 hours" after having spent 2 hours reading it for free at Barnes and Noble. I was very impressed by the authors' presentation and I also noticed the CD which was included. When I got it home and tried to install it on my VISTA computer I also had the same frustrating results you had. I was ready to take it back and return it along with some harsh language when I tried it on my Window XP system and to my surprise it installed like a charm. Since the book was written over 5 years ago when Vista was still a gleam in Microsoft's eye I could understand it. Now I happen to like Vista. Once you get used to it and its differences (You can pretty much make it emulate an XP system if you have to) you look at XP in a much different light. Anyway I would appreciate any suggestions for similar software which will run under Vista... I don't think Borland is in business anymore ... Create a good day, Kent G. Bailey |
| Wed, 05 Aug 2009, 11:20 | |
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shroom_monk
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Well, I still use DevC++ for C++ work, which is free and works quite well. I'd recommend that.
-=-=- A mushroom a day keeps the doctor away... Keep It Simple, Shroom! |
| Wed, 05 Aug 2009, 11:52 | |
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zebeste |
Visual C++ express edition is free and quite good (and used by a LOT of people). I think you do get some nice features (better debugging tools) if you pay for the commercial version, but it certainly isn't limiting if you don't. In terms of the Borland C++ thing, it doesn't install on 64 bit OS's, if you happen to be using one.
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| Wed, 05 Aug 2009, 12:37 | |
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JL235
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1) If it installs fine on XP, then you could try copying the applications directory in Program Files files across to your Vista machine. For many applications they still work perfectly and I would try this first. 2) If you have a spare XP license you could could install a copy within a virtual machine. You will still be running it within XP, not Vista, but because XP will be running within Vista I can imagine it would be more practical. The two main big-boys for virtualization are VMWare and Virtual PC, I personally prefer the latter (but both are good). As noted above you could try a different IDE. The real concepts of C++, and C++ itself, will be the same no matter which one you use. |
| Wed, 05 Aug 2009, 13:04 | |
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kentgbailey |
Thanks fellas. I love you all. I think I'll try DevC++ to get me started and I'll look into the other things. I really appreciate the quick and informative responses. Kent |
| Thu, 06 Aug 2009, 17:03 | |
Evil Roy Ferguso
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If you're on Windows or Linux, CodeLite is an excellent free IDE.* It's lightweight, but quite featureful. *If you're on Mac OS, CodeLite is a mediocre free IDE -- it's not been Mac-ified very well. Non-"C++ Builder" Borland C++s are now ancient and should be avoided -- it does not support the current C++ standard very well and it produces fairly slow code compared to GCC or MSVC. You'd do better with recent versions of MinGW or Microsoft's offerings. Visual Studio Express is probably preferable for game development, unless you have less than 1GB RAM, in which case I can't honestly recommend it. |
| Fri, 07 Aug 2009, 05:34 | |
Phoenix
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It's already been mentioned, but Visual Studio is always great, and free too. It's debugger is much better than the one in Dev-C++, which isn't even maintained today. I haven't tried CodeLite or CodeBlocks, so I can't say anything about them.
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| Fri, 07 Aug 2009, 07:03 | |
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JL235
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It might seem overwhelming at first, but there is reason why the majority of PC game developers use Visual Studio for C++. I second this IDE as a recommendation. |
| Thu, 10 Dec 2009, 18:39 | |
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boecky |
Go to the CDrom drive thru windows explorer and open C++builderx/windows. You will see the install.exe. Right click and change to the compatability tab. Change to compatable with windows 2000. OK out and right click again and run as administrator. This is what I did to install with Vista. You will see all the graphics of the install that are grayed out and there is no hang ups.
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| Thu, 11 Feb 2010, 10:38 | |
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bubbashere |
HELLO. OK, i have the same problems, I just boutht that damn book C++ in 24 hours , and the CD for C++Builder borland, is getting STuck in the INstalling , step, and i do have Vista. . I lost the thread as wha the solution to this problem is , Thanks again.. where do u get Replacement C++ compiler, and for free ?? Im new to al this , holla back someone,
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| Thu, 11 Feb 2010, 10:49 | |
Jayenkai
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Microsoft seem to be giving loads of dev-stuff away lately. Visual Studio Express is a free edition, available here Be aware that any specific gui type things in the book will probably not be accurate, but the actual language should be pretty much the same (with the odd Microsoft enduced quirk, here or there!) -=-=- ''Load, Next List!'' 
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| Thu, 11 Feb 2010, 12:18 | |
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bubbashere |
Yea i just got DEvC++ , and i typed in the first thing, HelloWorld.. cant get it to work Damnn. u clikc on "compile and run"..?? dont even know all the error mssges, were, and dont they even show up anymore.. all confused, talk about learning progamming on your own!!!
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| Thu, 11 Feb 2010, 12:44 | |
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Phoenix
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Don't get DevC++. It's unmaintained, it's buggy and it's inferior to the alternatives in practically every aspect. Follow Jayenkai's link instead. Getting started with C++ may be intimidating at first, in part due to the relatively cryptic error messages. If you haven't programmed before, I suggest trying something else first; C# or Python are both powerful and easy to get into. If you're determined on working with C++, you need to post your code in order for us to help you. |
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