I'm trying to describe some programming concepts to a friend, but he really isn't getting the idea, so can any of you come up with a good explanation for some concepts? Not to simple, but not to advanced. In between I guess. Anyone?

Library
Compiler (I said: something that will run your code.)
C++ Iostream
Compiling (I said: mixing your code together into a program that runs)

And any other confusing program things you can think of, thanks!

Library: A set of classes (think of books in a library). If you think of it in terms of a game engine, it contains classes (books) on all subject matter for the games; graphics, sound, input, etc. You can write you own library (say, a library with all the needed stuff to build a game) or download other libraries that have already been made. It's used as a time saving thing; if you don't need to write a class (because you can find a library with the specs you need) then why would you?

Compiler: When you write code, it isn't what a computer "reads". It's what the compiler reads. The compiler looks at what you wrote, sees int main() and says, "Oh look, there's the main function. Time to compile that into computer byte-code!" It then takes the code you've written and makes computer-readable byte code (machine language).

<iostream>: I/O (capital i, capital o) stands for Input/Output. C++'s <iostream> is a class that allows basic input/output in your programs. ie, it allows you to use cin, cout, cerr, clog.

Compiling: Again, taking human-readable code and making it byte-code. In a C++ program, after compiling comes linking, where the program is mashed together with all of the necessary classes and/or libraries. After linking comes building, where you actually make an executable program that you can distribute.

And I'll add...

Class: Classes are the objects in OOP (object-oriented programming). They are independent of each other, allowing greater flexibility in your programming. They are build with a specific thought in mind. Think of them as real world objects (lets use a bike). Here's a class diagram of a bike object.

You get the idea. You then construct the bike (in Java it would be): Bike bike = new Bike() and then use the newly created bike. Say you want to ride the bike. bike.rideBike()

This post has been edited by .Maleficus.: 3 Jun, 2008 - 04:38 AM

Thanks for the help!