The Visual C++ Build tools have been a huge success since we introduced them two years ago. The C++ Build Tools were originally released as a standalone installer that only laid down the tools required to build C++ projects without installing the Visual Studio IDE. Many developers have found them useful in environments that don’t require a full VS install such as build servers or CI systems. The tools are always kept up-to-date, shipping only the latest supported version of the MSVC compiler toolset.

With Visual Studio 2017’s new, flexible installer we were able to move away from our custom C++ Build Tools setup to use the new VS 2017 install experience. As we did in the VS2015 timeframe, we updated the MSVC compiler toolset in the Build Tools to match the VS 2017 v141 compiler toolset. The MSVC compiler toolset in the Visual Studio Build Tools currently has all of the C++17 features and STL fixes from the VS2017 version 15.3 release. When we release VS2017 version 15.5, now available in Preview, we’ll update the MSVC compiler toolset in the Visual Studio Build Tools again.