C++ Probs

(This post may be a bit lengthy . pls bear with me)
I had some thing to ask u all abt C++. I may have written something similar earlier also but i think that i was not detailed that time and I had left many aspects of my query and there were a couple more things to ask and moreover there might be some new members who cud help me out. so i am posting this query.
Well, first of all I'll tell u wht all i have done.I had an introductory course in C in my first year. After that i started C++ sometime back on my own. I followed these books: OOP with C++ by E. Blalgurusamy(TMH), Turbo C++ by Robert Lafore, and C++ Program Design by Cohoon and Davidson(TMH).(Guess I have to learn a LOT more).I am using Borland C++ 5.02 for program development.
I am in my 5th semester now and i have to make some projects using any language and any platform by the end of this semester but i know only C++, so i'll obviously be working in it only. Now, i want my projects to be really good so that i can learn something out of em unlike some of my friends who r thinking abt submitting someone else's readymade projects. Now, i wanted to ask u three things:
1) I have some projects in mind but i want to give them a GUI. Now, I don't know windows programming etc. and i want to devote majority of my time to the actual prog's logic instead of the graphical interface. So, is there a quick way of learning how to produce simple GUI's.

2) I am thinking of some network project like a mail client. So, wht is the right way to approach the subject. I mean cud u suggest some book or some internet resource from which i can learn network programming from the beginner's level. I currently have Network programming by Stevens with me but its difficult to read as a beginner. I do have some background in theory of TCP/IP as i read some chapters of Douglas E. Comer in my vacations last month. So, cud u pls direct me on how to wite a mail client. even linux solutions are okay but the preferref platform is windows.

3)One of my friends was telling me that i shud try to write a compiler. So, cud u also direct me towards some good resources on that too cuz even if it is difficult I'll surely give it a go as i am willing to learn.
Moreover, cud u suggest some other project that i cud make??

Well, i have taken a lot of ur time. So , I end this post here.
Thanks for giving ur attention towards this message. I wud really appreciate any reply from u in this regard.
Adios
Shantanu

have u checked out www.programmersheaven.com?! it's pretty good! there are easy examples about network-programming for C/C++.
I've read the book "M$ Visual C for beginners" [Robert Bines]. It's an old one and u hardly can get it but it's really good! I learned a lot about GUIs!!

Well, if you were willing to use MS Visual Studio in place of borland, a GUI is a snap. A simple one is a snap anyway. Otherwise, there are plenty of "Windows Programming" tutorials on the internet.

The thing to remember as a programmer is you should not reinvent the wheel. If you want to make your own mail client, look at some open sourced mail clients, etc.

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So, is there a quick way of learning how to produce simple GUI's

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In my experience, most programmers can learn how to construct basic GUI's in Microsoft Visual C++/Studio in just a few hours. You must, however, be a very knowledgable programmer because certain things will work quite differently in a GUI-based environment then a non-GUI-based environment.

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One of my friends was telling me that i shud try to write a compiler

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Before you go trying to write a compiler, I suggest either taking at least a course or two in compiler and OS development. Constructing a compiler is much more than simply programming, they require a lot of specific logic which you most likely won't have simply by having programmed for a while. Also, most compilers take a very long time to write (I wrote a compiler for a lower-division C++ class I teach, and it took me nearly six months to complete simply because there was so much that I had to account for, and, before that, I had generally finished any program I had to write in a week or two at the most). Most of the college students I know that have written complete compilers wrote them as their thesis projects for their Master's degree. I don't know of any undergraduate student who has ever completed a compiler. I know others who have tried, but they didn't have the time, energy or skill to come anywhere close to completing a working compiler.

AJ

I don't want to use Microsoft visual c++ cuz some of my friends tell me that the syntaax etc becomes different in it so i wud have to learn that also. isn't there any simple tuts to learn writing simple guis in MFC or OWl. i just have to make a simple dialogue with a few text areas and a send and reset button. that's all