stdafx.h" #include #include using namespace std; int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[]) cout << "What is your name?" << endl; string name {}; cin >> name; cout << "You said your name is: " << name << endl; return 0; : Beginning C++ The first two lines of this source code are comments. A double forward slash indicates that all text following the // on the same line should be ignored by the compiler. Block comments are also supported and are opened with /* and closed with */. You will see several uses of both forms of comment throughout this book. There are then several lines beginning with #include. This tells the compiler to include other files into our program. We cover the difference between source and header files in . The next line tells the compiler that we want to use the standard namespace. Namespaces are also covered in . The program then begins with the _tmain function. This is the first function called by the program when writing Windows applications that target the console. Different operating systems have different entry points and you’ll see these throughout this book as different examples are written to target different operating systems and compilers. You should be able to easily alter the samples to use the entry point for your system of choice. The cout operator writes the text following the << operator to the console window. The cin operator stops the program and waits for the user to enter text. We store the text entered into the name variable and then use it to echo back the input the user entered. The last line returns the value 0 from the function to let the operating system know that we finished without error. As you can see, this simple program asks for the user’s name and then repeats that name back to the user. Congratulations: You’ve written your first C++ program. Summary This chapter has given you a very brief introduction to the C++ programming language. We’ve looked at the basic history of the language, the current main C++ compilers, its major paradigms, and a simple C++ program. The next chapters look at how we can create some simple games using the C features of C++, beginning with a look at the fundamental built-in types and operators in C++. The examples in Chapters 2 and 3 are simple programs that will help you to understand how C++ types and operators behave. The examples beginning in see us begin to create a text adventure game that we will develop to completion throughout the remainder of the book. Text adventure games were very popular on early computers and they are an excellent way to learn C++ for game development without requiring you to learn the intricacies of a platform-specific windowing system or graphics application programming interface (API). Part Procedural Programming The roots of the C++ programing language come from the C programming language. C provides the basis for the C++ procedural programming paradigm. Procedural programming involves using variables and functions to create reusable procedures that constitute a full program. This part of the book introduces you to the features provided in C++ that would allow you to write fully procedural programs. This part of the book begins by looking at C++’s built-in types, operators, arrays, pointers and references, and functions before finally looking at flow control statements and methods of structuring your programs.