jyoti

I have been using only free compilers for the past six years for my C, C++ programming. On Linux there is no need to search beyond gnu compiler collection. The gnu compiler for C, C++ on Windows is available through Dev-C++ which has been suggested earlier in this forum. It is on Windows that we have an option of various compilers. I have been using the Borland commandline compiler collection available from their site, the digital mars compiler, and the lcc compiler. The hurdles with free compilers: Lack of good documentation. Lack of an IDE. The advantages: You get a chance to compare the performance your program can deliver after compilation from different compilers. You get different error messages, which just might help you to discover bugs easily. You just might discover a bug in one of the compilers and save your time finding bug in your own program, when it is not there at all! A chance to understand the commandline switches and various options provided by various compilers. Here are the ways I overcome the hurdles mentioned: I use an editor, namely jfe to create custom buttons which just invoke the compiler with the file name. You can do this kind of stuff with several editors. Most popular are emacs, and the one by komodo. You can even do it in Eclipse! The documentation for C/C++ can be downloaded separately from Borland. And DM hosts a very high grade manual on their site. lcc is a very high quality C compiler, full with an IDE and documentation and several very high quality libraries. If you are interested in C on Windows. This is the compiler for you. I would strongly recommend you to try this compiler. It has got several amazing tools including integrated GUI profiler, debugger, code beautifier, code metrics, project browser, resource editor- yes you can do full GUI programming in C on Windows using this. The libraries include AES encryption, PERL regex library, ZLIB library to name a few. It was developed over years in educational institute. Best of all its error messages are very helpful. There is so much more we can discuss here. We can discuss more free compilers. We can decide on certain common criteria to compare free compilers and then rate them!

If you are reading this you know what a discussion forum is. It is also called as newsgroup or usenet groups. This was the first application of computer networks- computer programmers and scientists used to collaborate over usenet groups! So what is the difference between traditional usenet groups and a discussion forum like this? Here is a short answer: Usenet groups are hosted on dedicated servers using NNTP protocol. The users need to have a client like Mozilla Thunderbird or Opera mail client to subscribe to usenet groups. Typically, you don't use a browser to participate. It is most often a paid service and the newsgroup servers are very busy servers. You don't have to see anything but the posts, and you get to keep a local copy by default, it is very light! These features make newsgropus(NNTP) an ideal choice for slow dial up connection and highly specific discussions. The much acclaimed books C FAQs and the C++ FAQs evolved from a compilation of the discussions on usenet groups. And the book C traps and pitfalls also evolved in a similar way! It is a no-time-waste, absolute-speed, precise use of internet. A small example would suffice to bring out its merit: I subscribe to some newsgroup at msnews.microsoft.com. Whenever I dial up and start Opera it automatically checks for new posts on the server and downloads only the headers in plain text. At 2 kbps it takes about 30 sec. There are about 200 new posts in all from the six groups I subscribe to, particularly Access and Vista group. Now that the headers are on my computer I can go through them offline, do offline search! When I decide to follow a post it comes instantly because the body is again plain text or simple html- just 2-4 KB in size! It seems to work in real time even in dial up connection. And once I read a topic it is saved for ever on my local computer for future reference! Which is the best part. I get the best user interface from Opera (You may use any other news reader) , I get to interact with the best professionals in the industry, discuss in real time on latest issues, best of all- I get to keep an offline copy of everything! No reloading ever! There is a lot we can discuss about NNTP and newsgroup. Particularly if you are new to it. Take your time, do some search and give it a try. I am sure you will get hooked to it- definitely so if you are a programmer or use a dial up. If you get through all hurdles and go ahead with subscribing a newsgroup on a server I would recommend you to join any .moderated group initially. Because of the tremendous bebefit they are to people most newsgroups are paid. In fact there are no free newsgroups in my country India. You may try one of these free newsgroup servers to begin with: freetext.usenetserver.com news.motzarella.org news.cnntp.org Before you begin: my sincere advice- be ready to face some initial hurdles, take pains to learn the new way,and be ready to spend some time. You will end up saving a lot of time in the long run and experience the internet in an absolutely new way! Just imagine Google groups with no ads and everything offline on your comp in your personal way for future reference- that should keep you motivated!

Yes, there are several sites for learning C, C++ and several discussions on how to learn them. I have some simple suggestions: Buy a book instead of following an online site. You may download a relevant pdf file. For C, The C Programming Language is the best book. For C++ the book by Bjarne Stroustrup is the best, though not Very good for beginners. Follow a particular book long enough and your efforts will pay off- don't keep switching books. You may join usenet groups like comp.lang.c.moberated and comp.lang.c++.moderated for interacting with good programmers. You may use sites like http://programmersheaven.com/ for getting sample codes when you are a little experienced. Most importantly- take pains to learn, make it a point to start off with good programming practice, never think you may do that in future. C++ is Object Oriented. C is procedural. They cannot replace each other. They have their specific areas of application. Learn whichever best suits you. You should read some good article on net or the introductory pages of any C/C++ book to get a better understanding on this issue.

I ran the program on a remote shell account for safety. It works alright. It is indeed surprising. I thought the obfuscated code contest was no more held. Thank to you, Now I am aware that it is stll in existence.