I'm diving into software development with a focus on adapting a 32-bit open-source component to work in a 64-bit environment. I have limited formal education in programming, mainly learning physics and algorithms in Python. Recently, I've installed Visual Studio and am eager to learn more. While I can manage basic programming and debugging, I often feel lost when it comes to organizing my workspace, using package managers, handling dependencies, and compiling code. I know some code changes are necessary for 64-bit compatibility, but I'm not entirely sure what's involved. I'm looking for resources that can help me navigate this process, establish an effective workflow, and learn about software testing to ensure my modifications don't break anything. Any tips or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
Is the project you're working on set up correctly for building? It might already have some structure in place to aid with this. Have you checked if the GitHub repository has those setups as part of the instructions?
Can you give more details on where you're at with the software? Does it build and run successfully as a 32-bit executable? Since Windows supports 32-bit executables, it could be a good starting point! If you try to build it as 64-bit, are you facing any compile or runtime errors? It's unclear why package managers would pertain to this situation unless there are dependencies requiring 32-bit versions.
I shared the GitHub link here: [https://github.com/reupen/ipod_manager/](https://github.com/reupen/ipod_manager/). When I attempt to build it as 64-bit, I encounter variable scope errors, so it seems I need to adjust some parts of the code.
I wasn't sure! I followed the GitHub instructions to set up my own build, which mentioned dependencies like SQLite and zlib. I also installed Vcpkg for ms-gsl and wil, but I hope I did that right since it took me a bit. I think I added their include folders to the compiler, but I'm still figuring things out.