The right direction

[joshua rh comcast net]

Hello,
        I've been a beginner in C++ for some time now (been though a couple of books, and finally taking CS classes for it).  I've read some about and used C some too.  I would like to use GTK+ to develop GUI applications.  My main question is this: What is the best way to start? Is there a book that any of you would recommend?  After reading on C++, I found that it's nice to have a book to go through and to use the interned and other referenced to add to it.  An other question I have is this:  Is GTK+ code portable code?  I don't mind having to change a few things, or having to write some OS specific code, but I was wondering if GTK+ code can be just compiled on another OS (with the dev-tools installed) without any changes? Finally I would like to know about user dependencies.  When I used Microsoft VC++ to make GUI programs I found that people that didn't have the IDE installed could not use the applications I would make.  I think there is a way to 'export' them, but that's not important anymore.  Will my applications work without the dev-tools installed on the target computer?  Thanks for helping a beginner out,

Josh