DISPLAYING TEXT ON THE SCREEN
It is quite obvious what you are thinking... you honestly think that this is easy... well, it only gets harder.  displaying text in dos is a very simple task!  you use the iostream header (iostream.h). You do this by inserting #include <iostream.h> at the top of your project, OUTSIDE main().  THe command used to get data that the user types in is "cin".  If you want to display data on the screen, you use "cout".  Before you can successfully use these however, you must know about variables.

A variable can be called anything you want.  THe case of the letters do matter so X doesn't = x.  A variable can be anything from "a" to "AuZyReAllyKiCkSAs".  But why would you want to type in that?  I suggest keeping the variables short but descriptive.  there are many types of variables but I will only explain a couple at the moment.  A character variable (char) is a variable that holds a character of text eg, "a".  A integer (int) variable holds a number eg "132131313".  A boolean (bool) variable holds either a false (0) or a true (greater then 1).  Obviously there are more types but those dont matter.  You must define your variables before you use them.  this is done by typing the type of variable and the name you want to give it (eg. int auzy creates an integer variable named auzy).  Then you can place a value in it by using =( eg. auzy = 1).  you can either do this process like:
1. int auzy
2. auzy=1

or you can do it
1. int auzy=1

Both ways are equal but I suggest using the second method when possible as it is shorter and easier to debug ;).  You dont need a header file for variables!  also, please note that whenever you are using letters eg, in a character variable, it must be in speech marks ("") eg, char auzy "a".

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| Declaring variables in C++ is similar to VB, but in c++, it is easier.  "dim x as integer" is |
| similar to "int x" but as you can see, declarations in c++ are shorter.  Also, in c++, unlike |
| VB, variables must be declared.  C++ wont automatically adjust the variable to your needs if  |
| you dont declare it... It just wont work.  VB's method can make VB easier, but forcing        | | declarations in c++ with make your code less buggy as accidently typing a variable can't give |
| you many problems during runtime... problems are caught during compilation!                   |
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Back to displaying text on the screen.   first you will learn about displaying text on the screen.  To send text to the screen, you must you cout with "<<".  you do we do that?  here's an example!

1. #include <iostream.h>
2. void main() { cout << 1; }

This program simply displays the number 1 on the screen.  How do you display a word? easy.. use speech marks!   

1. #include <iostream.h>
2. void main() { cout << "Bunghole"; }

this prog displays the word bunghole on the screen.  What if you want to display a letter and a word or 2 different words?  use 2 sets of arrows.  

1. #include <iostream.h>
2. void main() 
3. { cout << "Number " << 1; }
This displays number 1 on the screen.  You are probably wondering why you could possibly need more then 1 thing on the screen... well, thats because you can easily mix variables with preset words! Why dont we analyse the next program

1. #include <iostream.h>                    //header for output and input on screen
2. void main()
3. { 
4.   Int theNumberIs = 1;                       //make theNumber is, an integer type variable=1
5.   cout << "Number " << theNumberIs;          // display "number "and then the variable so "1" 6.    } 

easy... However. You are probably wondering how to start a new line.  Some symbols also wont work.  instead, you usually need to put a slash infront of them. Presently, the only one you need to worry about is \n = new line.  Below is an example of some source code that uses it.

1. #include <iostream.h>
2. void main() 
3. { cout << "Go to next line \n JG is gay"; }

That displays:  Go to next line
                JG is gay

Simple.. 

Now... How to use the keyboard to input into variables.  Yes, something actually useful.  To Do this you must use the cin command and << again. But this time the arrows point away from the command.  It isn't difficult to figure out.

1. #include <iostream.h>
2. void main() { 
3.    int number;
3.    cout << "type in a number"; 
4.    cin >> number;
5.    cout << " your number is " << number;
6.                } 

This prog displays: type in a number
then, you type in your number and later displays your number.

Hmm.. Now lets try something actually nearly difficult.... Lets make a program which records the name and age of somebody.

1. #include <iostream.h>
2. void main() { 
3.    int age;
4.    char name[25];
5.    cout << "Name?";
6.    cin >> name;
7.    cout << "age?";
8.    cin << age;
9.    cout << "Your name is: " << name << "and your age is: " << age;
10.             }

On line 4, you will probably notice something new.  If you haven't noticed it, you better go back to intro.txt. Line four defines a character array that has 26 character spaces (the array starts at 0).  A character array stores the information as contiguous data.  By using a character array, more then one charater can be stored in that variable.  Also, you can access parts of that variable, but you will learn how to do that after.  The output of this program should be:

Name
(your first name here)
Age
(your age here) 
Your name is: (Your name here) and your age is: <your age here)

Why doesn't this program show your last name even if your full name is less then 25 characters.  This is because C++ is intelligent enough to distinguish spaces.  If C++ was picky about spaces, you would constantly have compilation errors.  If you are having problems compiling, check that you have all the semi-colons.  Please dont whine to me if a program isn't compiling unless you know it is my code!  All this code was done by memory so I haven't tested it, but reviewed it for mistakes.  