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1. Introducing Digital Mars C++

Welcome to the Digital Mars C++ for Windows 95, Windows NT 3.5, Windows 3.1, and DOS. This chapter contains information on how to use this book and what you need to know about Digital Mars C++. For a list of the Digital Mars C++ features, see the Getting Started Guide.

Prerequisites for Using Digital Mars C++

This book assumes that you know, or are learning how to program in, C or C++. You should also be familiar with the Windows and DOS operating systems. This book does not show you how to use either operating system. It assumes that you know how to choose menu commands, select options, and work with other user interface elements in Windows. For more information about Windows or DOS, see the appropriate user's manual.

You should also be familiar with fundamentals of the development cycle including editing, linking, compiling, and debugging.

Fulfilling the prerequisites

If you are just beginning with C or C++, Digital Mars C++ is a great platform to learn on. However, a tutorial on C or C++ is beyond the scope of this manual. The following list of books can serve as resources on the C language: The following books can help both beginning and experienced C++ programmers: Digital Mars C++ can provide help in setting up the framework of your Windows applications. However, if you are writing such an application, you still need to know Windows programming basics. Some books that deal with beginning and advanced Windows programming concepts are listed below: Other useful titles include:

Conventions

This book uses the following typographic conventions:

Finding the Information You Need

This manual is divided into the following six parts:
One: "Welcome to Digital Mars C++"
In addition to the current chapter, this part contains a chapter introducing the Integrated Development and Debugging Environment (IDDE).
Two: "Creating an Application with Digital Mars C++"
These chapters guide you through creating your first application in Digital Mars C++.
Three: "Learning Digital Mars C++ by Example"
These tutorial chapters take you through building DOS and Windows hypertext file reader applications.
Four: "More about Creating Programs"
These chapters provide more detail about IDDE settings, workspaces, the application framework designers, the class browsers, the text editor, and version control.
Five: "More about Testing Programs"
These chapters explain in detail the debugging features of Digital Mars C++.
Six: "About Managing Resources"
The chapters in this part describe in detail how to use the Digital Mars ResourceStudio to create and edit resources.
Seven: "Appendixes"
This part contains appendixes on expression evaluation, the relationship between IDDE settings and command-line options, and the NetBuild feature.

Suggestions for the new users of Digital Mars C++

If you are new to Digital Mars C++, congratulations and welcome. We hope you find our product powerful and easy to use. You should read Introducing the IDDE and work through the tutorials in Chapters 9-14 to become proficient with Digital Mars C++ quickly.

Suggestions for users new to Windows development

If you are starting to program for Windows, Digital Mars C++ is a great platform. You should read Generating an Application Framework, and Adding Look and Feel with Resources. Also you should read the tutorials (Chapters 9-14), which guide you through the development of a Windows application.

Suggestions for users porting to Digital Mars C++

If you need to port your code from another compiler or from a previous version of C++, read the "Switching to Digital Mars C++" chapter in the Compiler and Tools Guide.

Suggestions for users upgrading to Digital Mars C++

If you are upgrading from a previous version of Digital Mars C++ and want to learn about the new product features, read Generating an Application Framework, Defining Classes and Their Hierarchies, Adding Look and Feel with Resources, More about AppExpress, and More about ClassExpress.