Can someone Help with Understanding Project Types in CodeBlocks ?

Hey,
I'm pretty new to programming. Especially C++. I have recently switched to codeblocks environment. It has many project types available when you click " new project " but no explaination of what each one is for or what it does vs. another project type.
Can someone please let me know where I can read up on project types and what each type is useful for ?

furthermore... people keep saying their code is for a API project.... ( what does API stand for anyways ? ) but I don't see API as a project type under " new project " in codeblocks. Do I need to download an update ?

I understand the " console application " and I get the " dynamic link library "

but what are " AVR " projects and "lightfeather" , " Ogre " and " FLTK " etc. ??

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furthermore... people keep saying their code is for a API project.... ( what does API stand for anyways ? ) but I don't see API as a project type under " new project " in codeblocks. Do I need to download an update ?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Api

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but what are " AVR " projects and "lightfeather" , " Ogre " and " FLTK " etc. ??

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OGRE (Object-Oriented Graphics Rendering Engine) is a 3D engine that can be used to make games and practically anything else requiring realtime 3D rendering.

FLTK (Fast, Light Toolkit) is a GUI library.

I doubt that Code::Blocks actually includes those libraries by default, it probably just has the project types there preset to save you some work if you use them. I'm not familiar with AVR or lightfeather, but I'd expect that they're other libraries that it has preset configs for.

hey thanks Speedo.

I'll check to see if I actually have the libraries, and if not... I'll bet I can download them from the codeblocks website.

So is Ogre the best thing to learn about to devolop video games with 3D graphics, or can I do the same with " windows32 GUI " ?

downloading the OGRE SDK right now. Can I do more with it than Win32 GUI ?

cheers

I dont want to rain on your parade but you should be totally familiar with standard c++ before attempting anything graphical.You cant expect to learn c++ and 3d games libraries simultaneously.

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So is Ogre the best thing to learn about to devolop video games with 3D graphics, or can I do the same with " windows32 GUI " ?

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I assume by "Win32 GUI" you mean the Win32 API? Win32 API is just a framework for developing graphical* applications in windows. It by itself won't get you 3D graphics.

OGRE is only one of dozens of options out there for 3D engines, but it's a good one and one that I personally like. However as Russco said, a fairly solid knowledge of C++ is highly recommended before trying to tackle something like it.

If you are interested in games, I would suggest going through a good book or etc first to get a decent understanding of C++. Then move to 2D games to get some experience with the basic concepts of game programming, using a good 2D package like Allegro. After that then move into the 3D world.

*Graphical in this sense meaning "anything other than console (text) programs"

hey thanks, trust me.... I'm reading my face off ! however I learn fast by seeing examples. So... I want to get it set up so I can run some " example " code and see what's going on under the hood. That being said, I've downloaded and set up the Ogre engine for codeblocks and just as I'd hoped for it came with lots of examples. However, when I compile the code, it compiles and then says no errors, no warnings.... but nothing happens. the example doesn't run. Then when I try to run it again it says... " your project has not yet been built, would you like to build it now ? " and if you click yes.. it just keeps saying the same question again and again. The SDK set up fine, and codeblocks accepted the file location when I ran the wizzard so... am I missing something ?
thanks for all the help everyone.

and as for the windows GUI thing... one of the project wizards in codeblock is called " Win32 GUI " not API.

any help getting these Ogre sample codes to run is greatly appreciated. : )

I'll check out Allegro. thanks.