Diagnostics Archives | C++ Team Blog

Even More New Safety Rules in C++ Code Analysis

Hwi-sung ImOctober 28, 2020Oct 28, 202010/28/20

In Visual Studio version 16.8 Preview 3,  we have added a few safety rules to C++ Code Analysis that can find some common mistakes, which can lead to bugs ranging from simple broken features to costly security vulnerabilities. These new rules are developed around issues discovered in production software via ...

Faster C++ builds, simplified: a new metric for time

Kevin CadieuxOctober 12, 2020Oct 12, 202010/12/20

C++ Build Insights is a collection of tools and APIs that can help you gain a deeper understanding of your build times. Today, we’d like to teach you about a special metric offered in this toolkit: the wall clock time responsibility (WCTR). It can be used to estimate how much time is really spent by each activity in your build, even in the ...

New Safety Rules in C++ Code Analysis

Hwi-sung ImOctober 2, 2020Oct 2, 202010/2/20

In Visual Studio version 16.8 Preview 3, we are adding a few safety rules to C++ Code Analysis that can find some common mistakes, which can lead to bugs ranging from simple broken features to costly security vulnerabilities. These new rules are developed around issues discovered in production software via security reviews and...

Introducing vcperf /timetrace for C++ build time analysis

Kevin CadieuxAugust 27, 2020Aug 27, 202008/27/20

The following blog post was written by guest author Carlos Fraguas from Mercury Steam Entertainment. He describes how he used the C++ Build Insights SDK to add the new /timetrace option in vcperf, and how he also used it to build custom tools tailored to his team's needs. You can follow Carlos on Twitter using handle @MetanoKid. Hello! ...

Improving code generation time with C++ Build Insights

Kevin CadieuxJuly 21, 2020Jul 21, 202007/21/20

Code generation time is a significant contributor to total build time for optimized builds. During this step of the compilation process, source code is passed through several algorithms that transform your program into an optimized version that can be executed more efficiently. In general, the optimization of a C++ function happens quickly and...

Profiling template metaprograms with C++ Build Insights

Kevin CadieuxMay 28, 2020May 28, 202005/28/20

The use of templates in C++ programs can sometimes lead to longer builds. C++ Build Insights puts tools at your disposal for analyzing template usage patterns and their associated impact on build time. In this article, we show you how to use the vcperf analysis tool and the C++ Build Insights SDK to understand and fix problematic template ...

Faster builds with PCH suggestions from C++ Build Insights

Kevin CadieuxMay 8, 2020May 8, 202005/8/20

The creation of a precompiled header (PCH) is a proven strategy for improving build times. A PCH eliminates the need to repeatedly parse a frequently included header by processing it only once at the beginning of a build. The selection of headers to precompile has traditionally been viewed as a guessing game, but not anymore! In this article, ...

Finding build bottlenecks with C++ Build Insights

Kevin CadieuxApril 22, 2020Apr 22, 202004/22/20

C++ Build Insights offers more than one way to investigate your C++ build times. In this article, we discuss two methods that you can use to identify bottlenecks in your builds: manually by using the vcperf analysis tool, or programmatically with the C++ Build Insights SDK. We present a case study that shows how to use these tools to speed up ...

Analyze your builds programmatically with the C++ Build Insights SDK

Kevin CadieuxMarch 6, 2020Mar 6, 202003/6/20

We're happy to announce today the release of the C++ Build Insights SDK, a framework that gives you access to MSVC build time information via C and C++ APIs. To accompany this release, we are making vcperf open source on GitHub. Because vcperf itself is built with the SDK, you can use it as a reference when developing your own tools. We’re ...

Introducing C++ Build Insights

Kevin CadieuxNovember 5, 2019Nov 5, 201911/5/19

C++ builds should always be faster. In Visual Studio 2019 16.2, we’ve shown our commitment to this ideal by speeding up the linker significantly. Today, we are thrilled to announce a new collection of tools that will give you the power to make improvements of your own. If you've ever had time for breakfast while building C++, then you may ...

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