| XAML | <TextBox x:Name=”textbox“/> |
| C++ | textbox->Text = “Hello World!”; |
| Output |  |
Snippets of the Metro style version for the most popular 101 application.
Download this Beta today:
- Windows 8 Consumer Preview
- Visual Studio 11 Beta Downloads (includes Visual Studio 11 Beta, Team Foundation Server 11 Beta, and .NET Framework 4.5 Beta)
As Jason Zander –CVP of Visual Studio- just confirmed, a Visual Studio 11 Beta was released earlier today.
What can C++ developers expect from this new version compared to Visual Studio 2010? Here’s a summary:
- Windows 8:
- Support for Metro style apps using native C++ code.
- C++ Metro style applications can create new UI using DirectX and/or the completely-new all-native XAML UI framework for Windows 8.
- C++ developers can also create components that extend Windows 8 apps written in HTML5/JavaScript.
- C++11:
- New core language features: range-based for-loop, override/final, and strongly-typed/forward-declared enums.
- More core language features to follow shortly after Visual Studio 11.
- New Standard Library headers: <atomic>, <chrono>, <condition_variable>, <future>, <mutex>, <ratio>, <scoped_allocator>, and <thread>. Also <filesystem>.
- Emplacement methods have been implemented in all containers for “arbitrary” numbers of arguments.
- Simulated variadic templates now accept a maximum of 5 arguments by default, down from 10. To increase this limit, at the cost of compiler speed, define _VARIADIC_MAX project-wide between 5 and 10 inclusive.
- Per-container and per-element memory consumption has been optimized.
- Code Performance and Parallelism:
- The Parallel Patterns Library (PPL) that we released in Visual Studio 2010 has had numerous enhancements to it in Visual Studio 11. We’ve added new parallel algorithms, concurrent containers, and scheduler enhancements. We also increased performance across the board. Last, but not least, we added support for Windows 8 asynchronous tasks.
- Improved compiler optimization technologies to make your compiled code run faster. C++ compiled code is now automatically vectorized and parallelized for improved performance.
- Support for heterogeneous computing through C++ AMP. Download one of the many C++ AMP sample projects to see how easily you can take advantage of the GPU compute power, including a multi-core and SSE fallback. C++ AMP is not just a technology you get in Visual Studio 11, but also our gift to the wider community through the C++ AMP open specification.
- IDE Enhancements:
- Code understanding enhancements like semantic colorization and reference highlighting.
- Editing enhancements like proactive IntelliSense, member list filtering and code snippets.
- Application Lifecycle Management (ALM):
- Comprehensive tools like dependency diagrams and the Architecture Explorer.
- Testing tools like a new Unit Testing Framework and Code Coverage.
- Static Analysis for a better diagnosis of coding errors even if the compilation is okay.
For further information, these MSDN Library article dives deeper in these new features for Visual C++ developers.
Links of interest:
- Visual Studio 11 Beta & .NET 4.5 Beta Announcement by Jason Zander
- Windows 8 Consumer Preview Announcement (on the “Building Windows 8” blog)
- Visual Studio 11 Beta Downloads (includes Visual Studio 11 Beta, Team Foundation Server 11 Beta, and .NET Framework 4.5 Beta)
- Windows 8 Consumer Preview Download
- Submit bugs to the Visual Studio or Blend Connect sites
- Ask questions on the Visual Studio or Windows forums
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