I'm using XP. Wait, so Devkit Advance is a compiler? What about Microsoft Visual C++? Should I get that? Also, what's this SDK stuff that I always hear about?
EDIT: Also, what about
this book? Should I buy that one? Or should I buy
this one?
IIRC, Devkit Advance includes a port of GCC or similar compiler, and just gives you a better IDE to work with it.
I wouldn't bother with MSVC++, Microsoft's compilers are known for their buggy and nonstandard nature.
The SDK (software development kit) is a library you link your program to that gives you the functions to write to the screen, access the memory card, play sounds, and read input from the joystick. Without one, you'll be able to write code that'll execute on the GP32, but you won't be able to interact with the user in any way.
IIRC, Devkit Advance (with the GP32 addon stuff) includes an SDK, but I'm not entirely sure since I'm using Linux and Mr. Mirkos' SDK.
If you're looking for a C++ reference, I'd go with the O'Reilly book, as their books generally include a lot of simple and useful code examples that you can drop right into your programs. Plus, they're organized in a manner that makes it easy to track down what you're looking for.
As well, my University CS department has a
few beginner's C++ tutorials. The console input and output stuff won't apply to Gamepark development (as it has no console), but the basics of building objects and stuff will probably be helpful for those less familiar with object oriented programming.