Quite a few years ago I had the idea of learning C++. My student account with Microsoft gave me access to a free copy/key for Visual Studio C++ 2010. So I bought a book (Ivor Horton's Beginning Visual C++ 2010) and got started. After reading a couple of chapters I was able to make a "day from date" calculator and a darts scorer. Then I stopped.

I've thought about having a second attempt at learning C++. 2010 was obviously a few years ago now and I have lost my copy of MS Visual C++ 2010 but still have the book. The book says I needed a "fee" version of the MS software because the express version doesn't have MFC library.

So I went to Microsoft website and logged in as a student (yup, still a student!) The software available to download is nowhere near as wide ranging as it used to be and the only C++ software I can see is Visual Studio Community 2017.

Will VS Community 2017 be enough to wade through this fat book? Can you get legit free copies of VS 2010? Or should I simply ditch the old book and start with the latest software?

Thank you for any help.

Visual Studio Community 2017 is a very good choice, it also contains MFC.
Since MFC didn't change soo much the book should be ok for MFC programming.
For normal C++ you probably need to read some tutorials about C++11 / C++14.

Thank you for your reply.

I did have a quick look at VS Community 2017 but I wasn't sure which elements I needed to install. I've since plugged all my old harddrives into the computer and found my old VS 2010 so I'm busy learning an old version of C++ and VS. It might seem daft but it's what I have, and besides, I'm still learning how to add up oranges and apples!

I'll try to update myself after I have worked my way through the basics to C++.

For a lighter, but more up-to-date, re-introduction to C++ you may wish to start with another IDE like Code::Blocks - it's download size is < 1GB compared to the 6GB+ for some of the basic MSVS 2017 CE workloads. One advantage of doing this is that it'd also allow you to get acquainted with C++11, C++14 syntax and the language did change significantly at C++11:
http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads

I did have a quick look at VS Community 2017 but I wasn't sure which elements I needed to install.

Have a search on this forum, I recall some posts re the list of the bare minimums you need to get started (sorry, can't find the link)

For MFC apps VS 2010 is still ok. MFC didn't change soo much over the years and many of the new C++ is not needed in MFC GUI apps.

@gunnerfunner
Code::Blocks doesn't come with MFC, so it's really not an option.

Thomas, you're quite right about MFC; C::B would still be a valid option for OP to get acquainted with newer C++