Linking, Precompiler, etc etc

Anyone know of a good tutorial I can look at to learn, basically, what the hell I need to do to make C++ projects compile?   I learned on VB and I also love C#, but C++ is just messing with me.

It's not the syntax or anything that's difficult, it's just all the hoops you've got to jump through to make the damn thing go.

No matter what, I can't compile anyone else's projects in microsoft C++.  All the project settings, the linker, and WHAT THE FUCK IS A PRECOMPILED HEADER DIRECTIVE? Ambiguous error messages that could apply to hundreads of possible problems according to google (API Entry Point must be Defined?  WTF?) Someone out there must understand all that crap that goes on up above the actual program itself, I mean, people write these things.  So, where can I go to learn this secret knowledge?

>>5
Yes and no. I prefer the mingw (gcc-derived) toolchain over VC++, because most of these utilities expose what's going on underneath a lot better. I think the *nix way of doing things is a saner, and I find gcc's warning and error output useful.

Despite that, it's still not a cakewalk, particularly if you're chumming it up with win32-specific code. Development in Windows just isn't any fun.

You shouldn't notice that much difference in sizes, BTW. You must be thinking of cygwin, but most people using gcc in windows use mingw and derivatives. The projects I do vary between 150-500kb compiled.