Visual C++

Microsoft Visual C++ is, also known as MSVC, 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.

Visual C++ boasts features such as syntax highlighting, IntelliSense (a coding auto completion 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.

History

  • 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 . 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.

  • Visual C++ 2.0, which includes MFC 3.0, was the first version to be 32-bit only, although Visual C++ 1.51 (an update to Visual C++ 1.5) was released at the same time as Visual C++ 2.0. Updates to this version included Visual C++ 2.1, released at the same time as Visual C++ 1.52, which is another update to Visual C++ 1.5, and 2.2.

  • Visual C++ 4.0, which includes MFC 4.0, was designed for Windows 95, as well as Windows NT. Updates to this version included Visual C++ 4.1 and Visual C++ 4.2, which no longer supports Win 32s.

  • 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).

  • 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, 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 Visula 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. The OpenMP (Open Multi-Processing) application programming interface (API) supports multi-platform shared memory multiprocessing programming in C/C++ and Fortran on many architectures, including Unix and Microsoft Windows platforms.

Microsoft Visual C++ is a programming environment used to create computer applications for the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems. To assist it, the Microsoft Foundation Class Library, or MFC, was created as an adaptation of Win32 in MS Visual Studio.