i have been trying to install stuff so that i can compile and execute c++. i have installed make and i have also installed gcc from (gcc340-3.4.0-1suse90.i686.rpm). when i type in gcc or g++ in the console it says "bash : g++: command not found" the same for gcc. when i look in yast it says that gcc is installed and is located in /opt/gcc-3.4.0/bin. how do i get this to work?

How 'bout indicating the path? (/opt/gcc.../bin/gcc)

what do you mean by indicating the path? do u mean typing g++ /opt/gcc.../bin?

Try

/opt/gcc-3.4.0/bin/gcc

You will want to add this to your PATH. Open up your .bashrc file in your home directory and add the following line at the bottom:

PATH=$PATH:/opt/gcc-3.4.0/bin

ok that worked but now g++ doesnt work properly. i have a program called program.cpp and it contains:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
cout << "hello there Darren" << endl;

return 0;
}

i then type in the console "g++ program.cpp -o program" and it brings up loads of text in the console window and in this text seems to be a lot of errors the main one being "no type named `int_type' in `struct std::char_traits<wchar_t>'"

what does this mean? is my c++ code wrong or have i not got the libraries installed or is it something else?

try:
g++ -o program ./program.cpp