{"id":35941,"date":"2025-11-06T23:34:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/?p=35941"},"modified":"2025-11-06T23:34:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:34:56","slug":"inside-visual-studio-improving-open-source-workflows-with-vcpkg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/inside-visual-studio-improving-open-source-workflows-with-vcpkg\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Visual Studio: Improving Open-Source Workflows with vcpkg"},"content":{"rendered":"

vcpkg<\/strong><\/a>, an open-source C\/C++ package manager maintained by Microsoft, is increasingly recognized as a leading dependency management solution. As an enterprise-grade tool, it enables organizations to streamline library imports, reduce duplication, and support flexible, reproducible builds across a wide array of environments.<\/p>\n

This need for streamlined dependency management is especially relevant in the build system for the Visual Studio repository. This system not only supports the development of Visual Studio itself but also integrates decades of legacy infrastructure, specialized tools, and complex architecture. The primary goal of integrating vcpkg is to simplify the acquisition and management of open-source native libraries <\/strong>by providing a unified solution that not only replaces manual compilation<\/strong> and custom integration<\/strong> for each project but also ensures security compliance<\/strong> throughout the process.<\/p>\n

To achieve our objectives, we divided the execution into two distinct phases: an initial phase focused on prototyping and experimentation, followed by a second phase dedicated to productization and integration into the build process.<\/p>\n

Prototype<\/h2>\n

This investigation started by adopting vcpkg from scratch, aiming to make it easier to use existing package libraries in the build environment. We started with a practical experiment: integrating vcpkg into our environment with the SQLite library.<\/p>\n

We chose SQLite because it\u2019s widely used and handled differently across various build components, making it an excellent test case for streamlining and standardizing library management. This investigation also demonstrates that we can adapt the cereal and libuv libraries for local vcpkg use.<\/p>\n

Why vcpkg?<\/h3>\n