Roger wrote:

Hello, I'm pretty new to C++ programming, and I'm teaching myself the
language using various sources.

This sounds stupid, but I am really confused on this... I was
wondering why we have to write a C++ program with this:

#include <iostream>
using std::cout;
using std::endl;

int main() {
cout << "hello, world" << endl;
return 0;
}

or like this:

#include <iostream>

int main() {
std::cout << "hello, world" << std::endl;
return 0;
}

Why can't we just write it like this? :

#include <iostream>

int main() {
cout << "Hello, World << endl;
return 0;
}

My compiler, VC++ 2005 Express does not seem to compile the last chunk
of code. Why do we need std? I just need someone to clear up some
confusion. Hehe.

std is a namespace. Namespaces exist to prevent names from accidentally
clash with each other. Imagine you work on a project with someone else, and
both you and your colleague define a function named 'doWhatIWant'. If now
you and your colleague define the name in different namespaces, this would
not be a problem. As the standard library contains a lot of names, it
defines most of them in the namespace std.

A note: I think

#include <iostream>
int main() {
std::cout << "Hello, World\n";
return 0;

}

is better. std::endl just sends a newline character to the stream, and then
flushes it.

--
rbh