Learning C++ without an IDE

Question

I\'ve recently started to learn C++ and am completely confused with the choices of IDEs and compilers out there. I am competent with interpreted languages and like the simplicit

Answer 1

Visual C++ is the name of the IDE program package. Installing it installs many things including the compiler cl.exe, which can compile, depending on settings, program written in either the C, C++, or C++/CLI programming language (for the .Net framework).

You can use the compiler on the command prompt without the IDE by (for example) selecting Start > Programs > Microsoft Visual Studio X > Visual Studio Tools > Visual Studio X Command Prompt. This execute a script which sets various environment settings needed to compile programs before giving you the command prompt.