What is a C++ Complier?

a bought a book that told me to download a complier before read later on the pages. I have microsoft visual C++ 2005 express edition and I don't know if that is compiler?

What is a C++ Complier?
A compiler is basically the software used to make programs. You type the code in, compile it, and then its read to be used. Depending on the book, I have a C++ book which wasn't pertaining to MS Visual Studios and therefore I got one from Bloodshed Software which worked just fine with the book. However if the book you bought is for MS Visual C++ you can use the site below for tutorial and download. If its not for MS Visual you should try the Bloodshed, its very easy to use.





Bloodshed: http://ftp1.sourceforge.net/dev-cpp/devc...





Visual Tutorial: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/expres...





Visual Compiler Download site: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/expres...
Reply:A compiler is software which translates a computer program from the language in which it is written (such as C++) into machine code which can actually be executed on a computer. If the program can accept a C++ source program, and get it to run on a computer and produce results, it can be considered a compiler.
Reply:A compiler is a computer program (or set of programs) that translates text written in a computer language (the source language) into another computer language (the target language). The original sequence is usually called the source code and the output called object code. Commonly the output has a form suitable for processing by other programs (e.g., a linker), but it may be a human readable text file.





A C++ compiler will convert the source code to a C++ executable file.





There are many C++ compilers like Intel Compiler, Borland Turbo C++ compiler, GCC...etc...