First of all I want to make clear that 'm all new to C++, so this might be a simple and somewhat obvious question. In the C++ book I'm reading called C++ Primer, a class is defined by writing:
class classname{
public:
private:
};
However, in VS2008 the compiler didnt like this. But by adding public ref before class, as in:
public ref class classname{
it went through in the compiler. Can anyone please explain what the difference is between defining only with class and with public ref class? I would really appreciate it.
The ref syntax is a Microsoft extension used only in Managed C++. By the sounds of things you have flicked the /clr compiler switch on by mistake when creating your project. If all you want to do is to create real C++ programs, then you will want to revert that.
You're reading a book call C++ Primer which teaches the C++ programming language, whereas you're attempting to create a program telling VC++ the code is in C++/CLI, a different programming language....
You (edit: and other users) tagged this question with:
Two programming languages: C++ and C++/CLI,
One commercial Integrated Development Environment (IDE) by Microsoft: Visual C++, which lets you program in three different languages (C, C++ and C++/CLI). In the post you mention Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, which is a superset of Visual C++.
One set of language extensions: Managed C++, which has historically refered to quite a few different things and, frankly, I'm not sure what it means now :)
However, your first goal should be to learn how to configure Visual C++ to program in the language of your choice, C++.
As usual, a good way to find an answer to this question is to type it in the "Ask Question" page and see which related questions are suggested. This is the best one, I think: compiling "standard" C++ in visual studio (non .net).
Are you learning the standard C/C++ language? if the answer is yes then that syntax is concerning the Microsoft C++/CLI language...
look at : C++/CLI
Try to use Eclipse with C++ extension instead. It cames with all you need to create and execute a STANDARD C++ program!
Eclipse download
Related
I have a program in c++ on visual studio'10. And have decided to create a simple user interface for it on VS'10
My question is, confusion raises when choosing among MFC, CLR, Win32 etc. which one should I go for implementing my UI?
Given the constraints of your choices and the fact that you've already chosen C++, then I would go with MFC. Had you chosen C, I would have told you Win32. Had you chosen C#, I probably would have recommended WPF.
Been using VS2010 express. Writing in C# which i figured was a good middle step towards object oriented languages. One thing that has made my code somewhat repetitive is the inability to use multiple class inheritance in C#. I.e. I can't say class A inherits from class B and class C.
c# is great because you can quickly and easily get windows with buttons textboxes and dials up and running. This is not available in C++ in the express version since the MFC libraries are not included.
Now, I have thought of just desinging a C# front end which saves parameters to a file then execute a c++ which reads the file, runs and then saves a file which i open with another(or the same) c# backend exec to read and play ard with the results. But this would make it cumbersome always executing the whole sequence again if you want to change something. Not to mention debugging, will probably need to have to instances running.
Reading on of the Visual studio 2012 Express for desktop announcment, it stated that "You can also combine C++, C#, and Visual Basic projects into a single solution, making it easy to write a single application using any of the available languages." http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2012/09/12/visual-studio-express-2012-for-windows-desktop-is-here.aspx?PageIndex=3
Now I would be happy with that, after all I dont expect and dont need at this stage to do any wizbank stuff i.e special button functionality/design which is easier and provided with the MFC in C++.
My question is: Has anyone tried this in Visual Studio 2012 in the Express for windows desktop version in Windows 7''? I.e can you combine a c++ and a c# projects which interact, trace the code form one project to another when debugging for example? Are there any special restrictions? I mean if its combining executables only its not much use, but i expect its more than that, but how much more? For example, can an object designed in C# instanciate an object designed in c++ pass it a reference to other objects like classes which hold inputs and outputs or data which are proccessed in the c++ class and still accesible in the c# code to display results etc?
I am asking this before downloading the new express version because I expect it will set me back a couple of months since going from C# to C++ i would think is like going from Visual Basic to C. I wouldnt want to get into all the trouble (i dont mind really but it would be huge step back) to find out i cant "seemlesly" integrate a c# front end with a C++ proccesing solution.
You have three options for interfacing C++ with C#:
pinvoke: You specify function signatures in C# and give them an attribute specifying what DLL they reside in. This is fairly painful to do if you need to pass around any complex types at all.
COM: A C++ DLL would implement a COM object called by the C# code.
C++/CLI: Allows mixing of managed and unmanaged C++ code in a single C++ project. It is very nice for interfacing with other libraries but, in VS 2010 at least, lacks helpful features such as intellisense. If you really wanted to go this route, I would write three projects: Your core C++ code as a static library, your C++/CLI DLL to wrap it, and your C# application.
Suppose I have designed a new programming language for one of the managed code environments (.NET/JVM). Can I now implement it by simply writing a translator that translates the source code of this new language into the main language of the platform (C#/Java) and then letting the platform's compilers and other tools handle the rest of the process ? Are there any simple, proof of concept , examples of this approach ?
Yes, you can do that so long as the semantics map properly (care must be taken, for instance, in mapping JavaScript code to a language such as C# because the scoping rules are different).
It is not on a managed platform, but you could look at Vala. It is a C#-like language that compiles to C. Eiffel also compiles to C (and supports compiling to Java).
If you are on a managed platform, however, you may want to look in to emitting bytecode directly. Java bytecode is not difficult to emit, as the VM takes care of and provides instructions for the trickier pieces of compiling (such as managing stack frames) and the VM eliminates other hairy corners such as register allocation.
Yes, you can certainly do that. The main issue you're going to run into is that it's difficult to provide source level run-time diagnostics/debugging for your language.
Sure, the first C++ compiler I used translated the code to C and then used the system compiler and assembler to create the executable. I believe it was from Sun, but it's been a while. Really the C to assembly is doing the same thing.
I'm not sure if this is a good example or not: http://www.mozilla.org/rhino/jsc.html
I suggest 2 steps:
First, make a translator or compiler from your language to C# or Java.
Second, make a translator to .NET code (CIL or MSIL), or Java bytecode.
(another compiler & programming language design hobbyst)
Is it possible to create, edit, link, compile (is compile the word?) etc. assembly code in MSVC++?
Also, if it's not possible, how can I create an .exe out of plain text, ie: convert the text into whatever format is required to use assembly code, then turn the assembly code into an .exe. (I'd say compile, but I don't think that is the correct word here).
And finally, what are some good places to begin learning assembly code? Written in a way that someone who has little experience can use.
I know some of these questions are probably very stupid, but I have absolutely no experience in assembly code and am not exactly sure where to start.
On x86, yes. You can use the __asm keyword to put assembly inline in your standard source files, and use the normal MS compile/link tools to compile everything together.
On x64 (or x86), you may need to use the ML and ML64 command line compilers for assembly.
Visual Studio provides the __asm keyword for compiling inline assembly in c and c++. There is also a good discussion here on the use of inline assembly. However if you are just talking about compiling assembly on it's own I'm not sure if Visual C++ is the correct tool however I'm pretty sure visual studio ships with the MASM assembler.
In short, yes.
According to Wikipedia, MASM has been shipped with all versions of Visual C later than VC6, and is also available in the Windows Driver Developer Kit. Versions supporting 16-bit real and protected modes, 32-bit, and 64-bit are all supported.
You can use the __asm keyword to write inline assembly.
pcasm-book(pdf) is a good tutorial to start assembly code programming.
Yes, sort of.
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\vc\bin>ml
Microsoft (R) Macro Assembler Version 9.00.30729.01
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
usage: ML [ options ] filelist [ /link linkoptions]
Run "ML /help" or "ML /?" for more info
You'd use the macro assembler. I don't know if Visual Studio will automatically "do the right thing" with .asm files, though, but you can certainly edit them with it and assemble them with ml.exe.
A good place to start learning assembly language might actually be by learning about reverse engineering.
Look for information on the C++ 'asm' keyword. It may be compiler specific, but I know VC++ supports it.
I think that java executables (jar files) are trivial to decompile and get the source code.
What about other languages? .net and all?
Which all languages can compile only to a decompile-able code?
In general, languages like Java, C#, and VB.NET are relatively easy to decompile because they are compiled to an intermediary language, not pure machine language. In their IL form, they retain more metadata than C code does when compiled to machine language.
Technically you aren't getting the original source code out, but a variation on the source code that, when compiled, will give you the compiled code back. It isn't identical to the source code, as things like comments, annotations, and compiler directives usually aren't carried forward into the compiled code.
Managed languages can be easily decompiled because executable must contain a lot of metadata to support reflection.
Languages like C++ can be compiled to native code. Program structure can be totally changed during compilation\translation processes.
Compiler can easily replace\merge\delete parts of your code. There is no 1 to 1 relationship between original and compiled (native) code.
.NET is very easy to decompile. The best tool to do that would be the .NET reflector recently acquired by RedGate.
Most languages can be decompiled but some are easier to decompile than others. .Net and Java put more information about the original program in the executables (method names, variable names etc.) so you get more of your original information back.
C++ for example will translate variables and functions etc. to memory adresses (yeah I know this is a gross simplification) so the decompiler won't know what stuff was called. But you can still get some of the structure of the program back though.
VB6 if compiled to pcode is also possible to decompile to almost full source using P32Dasm, Flash (or actionscript) is also possible to decompile to full source using something like Flare