Visual C++ is not a language, it is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). It's a collection of tools that makes it easier to write C++ code. Anything you can do in Visual C++ you can do in notepad.

You need to access the Windows APIs to do things like that. This is a pain in the ass though, so there's a bunch of libraries available to make it easier. Have a look at SDL or Allegro for basic graphics stuff. I warn you though- it's pretty tough. This isn't Turing anymore.

We're talking about a terminal window, not a command prompt, which is a very broad term.

Runescape is run through 'command prompt' check out the game, I don't think it looks weird o:

Wow... it's written as a console program?
Sorry about calling it command prompt though, I thought a console application was command prompt, but from what I at least think now, command prompt is a program made as a console application.
I'll just continue learning c++ though I have a pretty good e-book I'm following

No, he's wrong. Runescape is written in Java. The server is probably a console interface but the client itself is a Java applet which can is designed to run in a browser.


Here's the thing about the console. It exists only for text input and output (it can do graphics, but that's really hard and looks really bad). You type something in, and it spits something out. If you aren't typing something in or spitting something out, you don't need it. Heck, even if you are typing something in and spitting something out, you don't need it since you could just use your own textboxes. It's just the easiest way to do text I/O.

A lot of computers don't even have a desktop. The console window is all they have. Most *nix servers are like this. That doesn't mean the computer is old or weak though. They just exist for a different purpose.

I thought all computers had a desktop

the embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous.

I think you misunderstand what a computer is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer

since everybody I know just calls desktop computers a computer lol

A textbox is just any box you can put text in. Turing's run window is a textbox (well, in text mode it is). The address bar in your browser is a textbox. Just about anywhere that you type things is a textbox.

Just about any program that run on your computer can be run from the terminal. You don't have to click on the icon. You can launch Chrome, Firefox, Word, Battlefront, whatever from the terminal the same way you launch your homemade c++ programs. The computer doesn't really care.

well, look at your address bar and tell me that doesn't look better than typing into a console. Again, it's a complicated subject involving libraries and stuff that you're just not ready for yet. Don't worry about it. Doing anything with graphics is probably at least a year away.