C++ compiled application

Can someone explain in a "very layman's terms" what a 开发者_如何学JAVAC++ compiled application is? There are network accessible computers which run some type of installed program/applet (for lack of better term) to access it across the network but it does not use http/https. Any assistance is appreciated just looking for an overview because I am not a coder/genius like most of you on here.

[from comments]

I understand but I am more interested in how compiling works more than anything; someone stated to me that "they are using a c++ compiled app" to me and I did not know exactly what that meant.

Thanks

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You have asked a very general question so I'll give a general answer. Your reference to networks and http is confusing the issue. What are you really wanting to know?

A C++ compiled application is a set of low-level instructions for the CPU, from a simple one that prints "Hello World!" to the console, to one that does lots of graphics and communicates across networks. Usually they can run standalone, without needing support from another application like a browser. It being a 'C++' program only means the programmer used a language named 'C++' which is typically only important to other programmers. Compiled applications can be created in lots of other languages.

You have asked "What is a compiler" just in a different form. I was surprised I couldn't find a post on Stackoverflow for this so I created it as its own question.

For now, I'll give you the Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiler

A longer explanation would be an intro to Computer Science.

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Compiled code in any computer language (C++, C, Pascal, Objective-C, Fortran, & etc) is a valid binary that will execute on that operating system/architecture. Once compiled, a C++ program is the same as something written in assembly. Historically inlined assembly was often mixed with higher level languages to give a performance boost. This article gives a good perspective on why computer languages were developed as an alternative to writing assembly directly.

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First of all, C++ is a programming language. There are many, many others, but that won't matter much right now.

So, first you have a program written in C++. It can do various stuff, from showing you "Hello, world", to controlling a nuclear power plant.

Source code is, mostly, just text. How do you get from text to a program that you can run and interact with?

There is a special program called a compiler that will transform that source code to an executable that you can run.

Therefore, a C++ compiled application is a program that is written in C++ and was compiled to a useful program.

Users are almost never aware of source code, or the compiler, they get the compiled program out of the box.

Now, the part about networking. There are many networking protocols, with HTTP/HTTPS being one of more popular ones.

Since from description we cannot know how that C++ program was written, you must find out for yourself what kind of network protocol is used.

Also, you mentioned the word applet. Applets are Java programs that run in a web browser.

What you probably have is a program written in C++ interacting with a program written in Java.