I'm new to Ubuntu and just found out how to install build-essentials for programming in C++, but when I click on the gcc file in user/bin it does absolutely nothing. I read on one of the posts that it doesn't come with wondows, like Visual C++ from Microsoft, where you can enter your code directly. Can someone help me with some instructions on how to use Unubtu's gcc compiler from where I enter the code to how I can view the output. I'm sorry if this is a silly question, but I'm an absolute ammature when it comes to Linux even though I try to research the subject whenever I can. Your help is greatly appreciated.

A good place to start is the documentation for the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) which provides the C++ compiler (g++) as well as the C compiler (gcc) --> http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/. Here is a thread in the Ubuntu forums discussing the use of g++ which is the second link that comes up with the not so great search terms "g++ howto" --> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=392330.

hi,judoka , I'm a newbie too
You mentioned VC, I think you are looking for some kinds of IDE on Linux
if you are,
wii, there are many many kinds of IDEs under Linux,

BUT, Trust me IDE will definitely ruin your Programming skills along with your Debugging skills
I see you mentioned "click" too. lol
try to use console, start the console start your Linux life.
many creat applications come with console rather than windows.
weibullguy have gave you many good links, try them~

Thanks for such a swift response, I found the links very helpful. They were exactly what I needed. And yeah, I guess I should reprogram myself to use the terminal more to get the most out of Linux.