I've a question here, I've a background with Java programming, I wanted to know how do you manually compile C++ if you create the C++ application with a simple text editor such as Textpad or Notepad? Do I also need to specify the %PATH% in the Runtime Environment?

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This varies between C++ implementations, just as it does between various Java implementations ("gcj" is used to invoke the GNU Compiler for Java while "javac" is used to invoke Sun's Java compiler).

cl (CL) - used to invoke the MS VC++ (and VC++.NET, I believe) compiler, not sure why that filename was chosen though...
g++ or c++ - used to invoke the GNU Compiler for C++

I'm not sure about Borland Turbo C++ or Watcom C++ or whatever else since I haven't spent as much time with them (Watcom C++ still used <iostream.h> (the standard header as of c++98 is <iostream>) the last time I tried using it, which was a couple of years ago, unless I was supposed to compile with a specific option to make it require <iostream> instead of requiring <iostream.h>). Though I haven't worked with Comeau's C++ compiler at all, I've heard good things about it.

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"C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do it blows your whole leg off."
-- Bjarne Stroustrup, creator of what is now known as C++
For more quotes by Bjarne Stroustrup, check out http://www.research.att.com/~bs/bs_faq.html#really-say-that.

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Are these variety just depending on the C++ compiler?
Sorry, I don't understand on what do you mean by "depend on the implementation" ....

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Yes, it varies from compiler to compiler. Java has javac for the Sun JDK (Java SE) and also gcj (GNU Compiler for Java). These are two different compilers for java.

For C++, it also varies from compiler to compiler. cl (or cl.exe) is used to invoke the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler and g++ (also g++.exe on Windows and DOS, I believe) is used to invoke the GNU Compiler for C++.

After all, there are quite a few C++ compilers that you can find online. Imagine the idea of having different compilers using the same name on the same computer! Since the PATH environment variable on an operating system dictates the directories to look through for a command that doesn't include a path (e.g. "g++" instead of "c:\mingw\bin\g++"), think about what might happen if you had another compiler directory before the MSVC++ compiler directory and you wanted to invoke the MSVC++ compiler! You would need to call the MSVC++ compiler with a path, such as "c:\program files\microsoft visual studio\VC98\bin\cl". It would be very inefficient, right?

I hope this helped.

__________________
"C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do it blows your whole leg off."
-- Bjarne Stroustrup, creator of what is now known as C++
For more quotes by Bjarne Stroustrup, check out http://www.research.att.com/~bs/bs_faq.html#really-say-that.

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G++ Boyeee! If your on a *nix environment that is anyways.

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