C++ Team Blog
The latest in C++, Visual Studio, VS Code, and vcpkg from the MSFT C++ team
Latest posts
Integrating C++ header units into Office using MSVC (1/n)
.cameron { color: #4472c4; } C++20 has had a lot to offer and one feature in particular requires the most thought of all when integrating into our projects: C++ modules (or C++ header units in this particular case). In this blog we will show a real world case of integrating a new C++20 feature into a large codebase that we might all be familiar with. Just a few notes: Without further delay, let us jump right in! Overview How MSVC enables header units in a multi-platform codebase C++20 header units are a way to receive m...
Microsoft C++ Team at CppCon 2022
The Microsoft C++ team has an exciting lineup of sessions at CppCon 2022. Many of us will also be present at our team’s booth in the main hall for the first two days of the conference. Come say hi and let us know if you have any questions about our talks, products, or anything else! You can also join the #visual_studio channel on the CppCon Discord to talk to us (note: to join, head to #directory channel first, and check the checkbox next to "Visual Studio" box). We’re also running a survey on the C++ ecosystem. If you have a moment, please take our survey, it's quick. Here’s the lineup: Monday, Septem...
Importing ST projects into Visual Studio Code
In the world of Arm microcontrollers there are many silicon vendors, one of the largest is STMicroelectronics. ST has a large catalog of available devices with many capabilities as well as supporting development boards for evaluating them. They also produce STM32CubeIDE, a custom IDE to use when targeting their devices, and STM32CubeMX, a configuration tool used in configuring properties of their devices and generating projects. If you are a developer already using ST’s products I’m not telling you anything new. You may not be aware though of the work we have been doing to enable embedded developers in Visual ...
vcpkg August 2022 Release is Now Available: CMake Version Update, Updated FAQ, Cross-compilation Fix for Apple Silicon
The August 2022 release of the vcpkg package manager is available. This blog post summarizes changes from July 25th, 2022 to August 14th, 2022 for the Microsoft/vcpkg and Microsoft/vcpkg-tool GitHub repos. Some stats for this period: Notable Changes This is a minor update and there was no tool update this month, so most of the changes are to the open-source ports registry or minor changes. See the full commit changelog for details. We call out several of the more interesting changes below. vcpkg now uses CMake v3.24 Updated the version of CMake used by vcpkg to...
Updates to Visual Studio Build Tools license for C and C++ Open-Source projects
Visual Studio Build Tools (VSBT) can now be used for compiling open-source C++ dependencies from source without requiring a Visual Studio license, even when you are working for an enterprise on a commercial or closed-source project. This change expands user rights to the Build Tools and does not limit the existing Visual Studio Community license provisions around Open-Source development. If you already are a developer contributing to OSS projects, you can continue to use Visual Studio and Visual Studio Build Tools together for free, just like before. New License Benefits If you are an enterprise developer or...
proxy: Runtime Polymorphism Made Easier Than Ever
proxy is a single-header cross-platform library that facilitates runtime polymorphism.
Official Support for Arm64EC is Here
Last year, Microsoft announced x64 compatibility for Windows 11 on Arm, along with the new Arm64EC ABI, a new way to bring apps to Windows on Arm. With Arm64EC you can mix Arm and x64 code in the same process, allowing you to port existing x64 apps to Arm in an incremental way. We also announced experimental support for Arm64EC development in Visual Studio. Now, after a year of bug fixes and product stabilization, we are here to announce that this toolset is leaving experimental mode in the 17.3 release, making it possible to build fully-supported Arm64EC applications for Windows 11 on Arm. We hope that using...
MSVC Backend Updates in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.3
In Visual Studio 2022 version 17.3 we have continued to improve the C++ backend with new features, new and improved optimizations, build throughput improvements, and better security. Here is a list of improvements for you to review. Do you want to experience the new improvements of the C++ backend? Please download the latest Visual Studio 2022 and give it a try! Any feedback is welcome. We can be reached via the comments below, Developer Community, and Twitter (@VisualC)
MSBuild Low Priority Builds in Visual Studio
The C++ team is happy to announce the completion of a highly upvoted C++ feedback ticket from Developer Community – Low Priority Builds. With your feedback and collaboration from our partner teams, you can now start Low Priority Builds within Visual Studio. This will ensure the MSBuild node spawns with a lower priority, affecting all compile and link processes. If the build is affecting you from having a responsive work environment, then this is the feature for you! Internally, VS interfaces with MSBuild like a service. The MSBuild team has added new API functionality to switch the priority of the MSBuild nodes...