· What do I need to do to get a simple C++ program to compile and execute?
Create a Solution and a Win 32 Console Project.
Add the program files to the Project (or create a new file in the project).
Build the project.
Run the program by selecting (CTRL F5)
· What are Solutions, Projects and Configurations?
Solutions :
Solutions are a Visual C++ IDE construct that contains one or more projects, typically grouping related projects together. For example, when taking a programming class, you typically create one solution to hold all the projects associated with that class's assignments. In Visual Studio 2010 and 2005,, unlike Visual Studio 2003, there isn't a separate step to create solutions, a solution is automatically created when you create the first project in a solution.
Projects :
Projects contain and manage programs that are to be combined together to create a single executable program (or a library ). Typically one creates a new project for each programming task rather than re-using existing projects. If one is doing programming for a class, it is customary to create a separate project for each assignment.
Configurations :
Each project can have multiple configurations. The default configurations provided are Debug and Release. The project settings for each configuration can be independently set. When one creates a new Project, the default configuration is set to Debug.
No, typically one will create the solution with the first program, and then creates a new project for each subsequent program, and places the new projects in the existing solution.