Since this book is a hands-on book, it contains code that you can type, compile, and run. To compile the code, you will need a C++ compiler and linker, and in this book that means Visual Studio 2017 Community Edition, which provides Visual C++. This compiler was chosen because it is a free download, it is compliant with C++ standards and it has very wide range of tools to make writing code easier. Visual C++ provides C++11-compliant language features and almost all the language features of C++14 and C++17. Visual C++ is also provided with the C99 runtime library, C++11 standard library, and C++14 standard library. All of this mentions of standard means that the code that you learn to write in this book will compile with all other standard C++ compilers.

This chapter will start with details about how to obtain and install Visual Studio 2017 Community Edition. If you already have a C++ compiler, you can skip this section. Most of this book is vendor-neutral about the compiler and linker tools, but Chapter 10, Diagnostics and Debugging, which covers debugging and diagnostics, will cover some Microsoft-specific features. Visual Studio has a fully featured code editor, so even if you do not use it to manage your projects, you'll find it useful to edit your code.

After we've described the installation, you'll learn the basics of C++: how source files and projects are structured, and how you can manage projects with potentially thousands of files.

Finally, the chapter will finish with a step-by-step structured example. Here you will learn how to write simple functions that use the standard C++ library and one mechanism to manage files in the project.

The predecessor of C++ is C, which was designed by Dennis Richie at Bell Labs and first released in 1973. C is a widely used language and was used to write the early versions of Unix and Windows. Indeed, the libraries and software-development libraries of many operating systems are still written to have C interfaces. C is powerful because it can be used to write code that is compiled to a compact form, it uses a static type system (so the compiler does the work of type checking), and the types and structures of the language allow for direct memory access to computer architecture.

C, however, is procedural and based on functions, and although it has record types (struct) to encapsulate data, it does not have object-like behaviors to act on that encapsulated state. Clearly there was a need for the power of C but the flexibility and extensibility of object-oriented classes: a language that was C, with classes. In 1983, Bjarne Stroustrup released C++. The ++ comes from the C increment operator ++.

Microsoft's Visual Studio Community 2017 contains the Visual C++ compiler, the C++ standard libraries, and a collection of standard tools that you can use to write and maintain C++ projects. This book is not about how to write Windows code; it is about how to write standard C++ and how to use the C++ Standard Library. All the examples in this book will run on the command line. Visual Studio was chosen because it is a free download (although you do have to register an e-mail address with Microsoft), and it is standards-compliant. If you already have a C++ compiler installed, then you can skip this section.

Before starting the installation, you should be aware that, as part of the agreement to install Visual Studio as part of Microsoft's community program, you should have a Microsoft account. You are given the option to create a Microsoft account the first time you run Visual Studio and if you skip this stage, you will be given a 30-day evaluation period. Visual Studio will be fully featured during this month, but if you want to use Visual Studio beyond this time you will have to provide a Microsoft account. The Microsoft account does not impose any obligation on you, and when you use Visual C++ after signing in, your code will still remain on your machine with no obligation to pass it to Microsoft.

Of course, if you read this book within one month, you will be able to use Visual Studio without having to sign in using your Microsoft account; you may view this as an incentive to be diligent about finishing the book!

To download the Visual Studio Community 2017 installer go to https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/ community/.

When you click on the Download Community 2017 button, your browser will download a 1 MB file called vs_community__1698485341.1480883588.exe. When you run this application, it will allow you to specify the languages and libraries that you want installed, and then it downloads and installs all the necessary components.

Visual Studio 2017 treats Visual C++ as an optional component, so you have to explicitly indicate that you want to install it through custom options. When you first execute the installer, you will see the following dialog box:

When you click on the Continue button the application will set up the installer, as shown here:

Along the top are three tabs labeled Workloads, Individual Components and Language Packs. Make sure that you have selected the Workloads tab (as shown in the screenshot) and check the checkbox in the item called Desktop development with C++.

The installer will check that you have enough disk space for the selected option. The maximum amount of space Visual Studio will require is 8 GB, although for Visual C++ you will use a lot less. When you check Desktop development with C++ item, you will see the right side of the dialog change to list the options selected and the disk size required, as follows:

For this book, leave the options selected by the installer and then click the Install button in the bottom right hand corner. The installer will download all the code it needs and it will keep you updated with the progress with the following dialog box:

When the installation is complete the Visual Studio Community 2017 item will change to have two buttons, Modify and Launch, as showing here:

The Modify button allows you to add more components. Click on Launch to run Visual Studio for the first time.

The first time you run Visual Studio it will ask you to sign in to Microsoft services through the following dialog:

You do not have to register Visual Studio, but if you choose not to, Visual Studio will only work for 30 days. Registering with Microsoft places no obligations on you. If you are happy to register, then you may as well register now. Click on Sign in button provide your Microsoft credentials, or if you do not have an account then click on Sign up to create an account.

You will now be able to use Visual Studio to edit code, and will have the Visual C++ compiler and libraries installed on your machine, so you will be able to compile C++ code in Visual Studio or on the command line.