new to development

Hello List,

I am new to development. I've done the Scripting thing, shell scripting 
and java that is. Now I am looking to get a grip on C, as it pertains to 
XFCE4.

One of the things I want to do (for my personal system) is change the 
XFCE panel so that it can be transparent. Similar to OS X. What I really 
want to know is if this is at all possible in C? And am I correct, XFCE 
is written in C not C++?

I've snagged myself the latest CVS snapshot and have been reviewing the 
code, mostly to see if I can make heads or tails on where to start. Any 
pointers in that direction would be appreciated too.

Thanks,

Norman Bauer