Visual C++
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Visual C++ | |
 Microsoft Visual C++ 2005, Professional Edition |
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| Developer: | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| OS: | Microsoft Windows |
| Use: | IDE |
| License: | Proprietary |
| Website: | |
Microsoft Visual C++ (also known as MSVC) is an Integrated development environment (IDE) product for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages engineered by Microsoft. It has tools for developing and debugging C++ code, especially that written for the Microsoft Windows API, the DirectX API, and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
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[edit] Features
Visual C++ has features such as syntax highlighting, IntelliSense (a coding autocompletion feature) and advanced debugging functionality. For example, it allows for remote debugging using a separate computer and allows debugging by stepping through code a line at a time. The "edit and continue" functionality allows changing the source code and rebuilding the program during program debugging, without restarting the debugged program.
The compile and build system feature, precompiled header files, "minimal rebuild" functionality and incremental link: these features significantly shorten turn-around time to edit, compile and link the program, especially for large software projects.
[edit] History
The predecessor to Visual C++ was called Microsoft C/C++.
- Visual C++ 1.0, which includes MFC 2.0, was the first version of Visual C++, released in 1992, available in both 16-bit and 32-bit versions, although it is also the next version of Microsoft C/C++ 7.0.
- Visual C++ 1.5, which includes MFC 2.5, added OLE 2.0 and ODBC support to MFC. It was 16-bit only and it is the first version of Visual C++ that comes only on CD-ROM. There was no "Standard Edition" of this version. It was important as the last version to support 16-bit software development and first 16-bit version to support 32-bit Windows on x86 as the host (Visual C++ 1.0's compiler could run on beta versions of Windows NT, but not final versions).
- Visual C++ 2.0, which includes MFC 3.0, was the first version to be 32-bit only. Unfortunately, this was ahead of its time and so this release was almost a "lost generation", because Windows 95, then codenamed "Chicago", was not released, and Windows NT had only a small market share. Updates that were available through subscription included version 2.1 and 2.2. Microsoft included and updated Visual C++ 1.5 as part of version 2.0 (version number of the Visual C++ 1.5 update: 1.51) and 2.1 (version number of the Visual C++ 1.5 update: 1.52), and both 16-bit and 32-bit version of the CDK were shipped with Visual C++ 2.x, and also Visual C++ 2.x supported developing for Win32s. Visual C++ 2.2 and later did not update Visual C++ 1.5 (through it was included up to Visual C++ 4.x), but this release were very close to the release of Windows 95 anyway. But by the time Windows 95 was released, Visual C++ 4.0 were released. Therefore many developers jumped directly from version 1.x (version 1.5x if not for the fact that these version had no "Standard Edition") to version 4.0 skipping 2.x.
- Visual C++ 4.0, which includes MFC 4.0, was designed for Windows 95, as well as Windows NT. Updates that were available through subscription included Visual C++ 4.1 and Visual C++ 4.2, which no longer supports Win32s.
- Visual C++ 5.0, which included MFC 4.21, was a major upgrade from 4.2.
- Visual C++ 6.0, which includes MFC 6.0, was released in 1998, was (and still is) widely used for large and small projects. There are however issues with this version under Windows XP, especially under the debugging mode (ex: the values of static variables do not display). The debugging issues can be solved with a patch called the "Visual C++ 6.0 Processor Pack" downloadable from http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/downloads/tools/ppack/default.aspx; curiously, this page stresses that Users must also be running Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000.
- Visual C++ .NET 2002 (known also as Visual C++ 7.0), which includes MFC 7.0, was released in 2002 with support for link time code generation and debugging runtime checks. This version also included managed extensions to the C++ language, as well as a new user interface (shared with Visual Basic and Visual C#), which is a primary reason why Visual C++ 6.0 is still in wide use.
- Visual C++ .NET 2003 (known also as Visual C++ 7.1), which includes MFC 7.1, was released in 2003 and was a major upgrade to Visual C++ .NET 2002.
- eMbedded Visual C++, which is used in the Windows CE operating system. eMbedded Visual C++ was replaced as a separate development environment by Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.
- Visual C++ 2005 (known also as Visual C++ 8.0), which includes MFC 8.0, was released in November 2005. This version also introduced support for the C++/CLI language and OpenMP. It is currently the latest release.
[edit] Current editions
There are four versions of Visual C++ available:
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Standard
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite
Visual C++ is included in Visual Studio.
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express is available as a free download at the MSDN site.
[edit] Visual C++ 2005 Express
This Microsoft Visual C++ (or Visual C++ 8.0) is available in two flavors: as a part of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, and as a standalone "Express Edition" product. Both should be available for MSDN subscribers and were released officially in October of 2005.
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition is available from the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) web site as a free download. However, the Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributables are not included and cannot be downloaded from Microsoft. Thus, an executable compiled using default options (dynamic linking) in Visual C++ 2005 Express SP1 cannot be deployed to PC's that do not have Visual C++ 2005 Express SP1 installed.
[edit] 64-bit
Visual Studio 2005 Standard and Professional editions have x64 compiler support, and Visual Studio 2005 Team System supports IA-64 and x64. Before Visual C++ 2005 was released, programmers were supposed to get the Platform SDK if they wanted to write 64-bit programs. That included the 64-bit compilers and the 64-bit versions of the Visual C++ 6.0 libraries. If they wanted the 64-bit versions of the Visual C++ .NET 2003 libraries (which are no longer available), they were supposed to contact libs7164@microsoft.com.
