I got the include directories added in anjuta, now here is the compiler error: it seems I can't write to the query like any standard ostream, making all in src make[2]: Entering directory `/root/Projects/my/src' g++ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I. -I.. -I/usr/include/mysql++ -I/usr/include/mysql -g -O2 -c main.cc main.cc: In function `int main()': main.cc:11: error: ISO C++ says that `std::basic_ostream<char, _Traits>& std::operator<<(std::basic_ostream<char, _Traits>&, const char*) [with _Traits = std::char_traits<char>]' and `SQLQuery& operator<<(SQLQuery&, const mysql_ColData<const_string>&)' are ambiguous even though the worst conversion for the former is better than the worst conversion for the latter

****** it is failing on this line: query << "select * from pet"; I changed it to 'pet' since that is what I set up in my database.