Your First Program

These instructions will take you through the process of creating and running a simple program. Displaying the words “Hello, world!” on the screen is a traditional first step when learning a new programming language. You will use the Microsoft Visual Studio integrated development environment to write a source code file in C++, then build and run the corresponding executable file.

If you haven't already, follow the steps in Starting a New Project to create a new project and source code file.

To create and run your program:

  1. Type the C++ code that appears below, but without the line numbers on the left. (Note: The last word on Line 10 ends with a lower-case ‘L’, not the number one.)

     1// Program    : "Hello, World!" in C++
 2// Author     : Type your name here
 3// Date       : Fall 2025
 4// Description: This program displays a greeting to the user.
 5
 6#include <iostream>  // provides std::cout, std::endl
 7
 8int main()
 9{
10    std::cout << "Hello, world!" << std::endl;
11}
  2. When you have finished, select “Start Without Debugging” from the Debug menu to run your program.
  3. If you see a message indicating that the project is out of date and asking if you'd like to build it, press “Yes”.
  4. If you've typed everything correctly, the program will start running and you'll see the words “Hello, world!” displayed in a console window. Congratulations! Proceed to Step 6; otherwise, continue with Step 5.

  5. If you are instead greeted with a message indicating that there were build errors, press “No” (there's no need to try and run the last successful build) and you'll see a list of error messages.

    1. Carefully check what you've typed against the code that was given. Use the line number indicated by the very first error as a guide to tracking down the source of the problem (the problem may be due to something typed on that line, or a line above).
    2. Once you've fixed the first error, select “Start Without Debugging” to try again.
    3. If you get stuck, and cannot get a particular error to go away, ask your instructor or a classmate for assistance.
  6. After you see the words “Hello, world!” on the screen, close the console window and edit the program so it displays a more personal greeting — e.g., “Hello, Casey!” (assuming that your name is Casey).
  7. Run your program again and verify that it works as expected. You should now see the personalized greeting message with your name.

Congratulations, you've completed your first CISP 301 program!