C++ Team Blog
The latest in C++, Visual Studio, VS Code, and vcpkg from the MSFT C++ team
Latest posts
Analyzing the Performance of the “Proxy” Library
This article analyzes the performance of the "Proxy" library in various scenarios, demonstrating its significant advantages in indirect invocations and lifetime management across different platforms.
Enhanced Breakpoint Expressions for C++ Debugging in Visual Studio
Conditional Breakpoints Performance Improvement Debugging C++ code can be a time-consuming process, especially when dealing with complex scenarios. As a developer, it's frustrating to go through extensive setup and wait for a specific conditional breakpoint to trigger so you can analyze your application in a specific state. In Visual Studio 2022 version 17.10, we optimized the implementation of conditional breakpoints in C++ to enhance performance. We further improved this in version 17.11 to boost performance even more. Key Improvements Conditional breakpoints in Visual Studio for C++ pause code execution w...
New Contextual Tools for GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio
Visual Studio 2022 17.11 now allows you to pass your entire workspace or specific classes and functions as context for GitHub Copilot Chat. By referencing your entire codebase, down to specific classes and functions, Copilot Chat can deliver refined and accurate results tailored to your code. @workspace for project references You can now use GitHub Copilot Chat to refer to your entire C++ project using the @workspace command. This feature allows you to ask questions about your project, and GitHub Copilot will provide you with detailed responses. An example use case for the @workspace command in GitHub C...
What’s New in vcpkg (September 2024)
This blog post summarizes changes to the vcpkg package manager as part of the 2024.09.23 and 2024.09.30 releases, 2024-09-18 and 2024-09-30 tool releases, as well as changes to vcpkg documentation throughout September. This month’s release includes some minor changes and bug fixes, 18 new ports, and 319 updates to existing ports. When updating vcpkg, we recommend moving to the 2024.09.30 release, which fixes some regressions in the 2024.09.23 release. Some stats for this period: vcpkg changelog (2024.09.23 & 2024.09.30 releases) The following notable changes were made in Septem...
Configure GitHub Copilot Access via Content Exclusion
Have you ever wanted greater control over the sensitive content AI-powered tools can access in your repositories? You can now customize Copilot’s access to your files with the newly announced GitHub Copilot Content Exclusion in both Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code. Through this new process you can configure Copilot to ignore certain files in your repository – such as sensitive files or information - when generating responses.  Once content has been excluded from Copilot:  GitHub Copilot’s granular control over content exclusion gives you the flexibility to enact company-wide security po...
Latest enhancements to Copilot workflows in Visual Studio: Move seamlessly from Copilot in Quick Info and more…
There have been new integrations added to Copilot workflows in Visual Studio to make it even more seamless to navigate between in-editor activities and the Chat window that has context of global workspace, conversational history, and more to get the most out of Copilot, wherever you are. With the latest updates, you can streamline your workflow with slight tweaks and follow-up questions, allowing Copilot to provide the most relevant set of suggestions for your workflows. These include enhancements to inline chat and code completions in 17.11 and Copilot in quick info in 17.12 Preview 1. Refine Completions...
Visual Studio at Unreal Fest Seattle 2024
Join us in-person at Unreal Fest Seattle 2024 with an in-depth look at how Visual Studio and GitHub Copilot can help modernize your Unreal Engine game development. Session Title: Modernizing Game Development with Visual Studio and AI Session Info: October 3rd, 2024, 2:00 PM-3:00 PM Pacific Time | Room 445 Abstract: Join Microsoft to learn how Visual Studio can speed up your iteration cycle from start to finish. Discover productivity tools for optimizing class structure memory layout; identify and rectify build issues with Build Insights integration; and explore performance enhancements. We'll also cover ...
Tailored Code Completions for C++ Developers: Fine-tuned models are now in limited public beta for GitHub Copilot Enterprise
GitHub recently announced that custom models are available for GitHub Copilot Enterprise users in limited public beta. Custom models are fine-tuned on your organization’s proprietary codebases and coding practices to provide more contextually relevant and consistent inline suggestions. How It Works: Security and Privacy in Custom Models The data used to train your organization’s custom model is never used to train another customer’s model, and your custom model is never shared. You can learn more about the fine-tuning process in GitHub’s announcement post and documentation. C and C++ Case Study: Microsoft Offi...
What’s New in Visual Studio Build Insights 17.12
We are excited to announce the latest Visual Studio 2022 17.12 Build Insights features. These updates provide developers with greater control and accuracy when diagnosing and optimizing C++ builds directly within Visual Studio. Download Visual Studio 2022 17.12 Preview We extend our thanks to the developer community, particularly our game studio partners, for providing invaluable feedback. Your input plays a vital role in shaping these new features. Learn more about Build Insights with our tutorials and documentation: Run Build Insights on Selected Files This feature is a game-c...