Stuck in Compiler Hell

Well, compilers are a pain in my ass. I downloaded the Visual C++ Express from Microsoft and found the damn thing reads like stereo instructions. Once I figured out the categories the files I created were supposed to go in, I got stuck again. I think at first the program was trying to make things for me, but since I don’t know what it was trying to create for me, I got tripped up.

Ok, so I finally get the files in the right categories and start the build. What I get is an error saying that the compile didn’t complete because it can’t find the “windows.h” file and has failed. Great, what the hell does that mean?

Well, apparently “windows.h” is a header file that links to a bag of other files to build what I guess is all the default programming for a program to talk to windows. I said I was a novice, quit chuckling. Ok, so now I find out that Visual C++ Express doesn’t come with these files and I have to find another way to get them, and then figure out how the hell to get them referenced correctly by the build so it can make the program I wrote to write one damn sentence in a window. The book came with a trial version of Borland that needs to be registered and the command line compiler is beyond me at this point of frustration.

I’m off to do some research on how to get the files onto my machine without snapping and buying the full MS version. Wish me luck.