Visual C++ 6.0 or 7.x for teaching in a games context?

From: Jonathan G Campbell (jg.campbell_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 11/14/04 

Date: 14 Nov 2004 04:25:35 -0800

Next year I and some colleagues may begin teaching some games related
programming courses. Very likely DirectX will used; and OpenGL.

The games domain probably demands Windows; the college has now moved
almost universally to XP.

There was some hint that VC++ 6.0 (most recent service pack) 'would do
okay'; and majority of DirectX related textbooks assume 6.0. But I see
recent posts here commenting unfavourably on the standards compliance
of 6.0. A few years ago I had problems with it not compiling very
simple template code; but apparently that could have been solved by a
more recent s.p.

Incidentally, is the only choice 7.0? (7.x?) Presumably .NET means no
more than some add-ons?

I realise that one could use some version of Borland Builder -- but
most of the textbooks (and more significantly their examples) assume
VC++. I realise also that the OpenGL API requires only C (and doesn't
need Windows at all). But we may use C++ classes at a top level; and
we will be teaching some fundamentals of algorithms and data
structures based on the standard library. I suppose DirectX also
requires only C.

Has anything happened in C standardisation that the latest VC++ 6.0
will have missed?

Finally, the main question. Could someone give me a few chapters and
verses on why we need 7.x, so that I can specify it with confidence?

TIA.

Jon C.

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