C++ Team Blog

Using C++ Modules in MSVC from the Command Line Part 1: Primary Module Interfaces

Cameron DaCamara July 21, 2021 Jul 21, 2021 07/21/21

In this three-part series we will explore how to build modules and header units from the command line as well as how to use/reference them. The goal of this post is to serve as a brief tour of compiling and using primary module interfaces from the command line and the options we use. Note: This tutorial will focus primarily on dealing ...

Build and Debug C++ with WSL 2 Distributions and Visual Studio 2022

Erika July 14, 2021 Jul 14, 2021 07/14/21

Visual Studio 2022 introduces a native WSL 2 toolset for C++ development. This toolset is available now in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.0 Preview 2. WSL 2 is the new, recommended version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) architecture that provides better Linux file system performance, GUI support, and full system call compatibility. ...

Code Scanning C++ with GitHub Actions

Nick Uhlenhuth July 7, 2021 Jul 7, 2021 07/7/21

Last year, GitHub released code scanning, which enables developers to incorporate security checks into their CI/CD environment and developer workflow. This post demonstrates the basics of using CodeQL, the analysis engine behind code scanning, with GitHub Actions. What is CodeQL? CodeQL is an analysis engine that automates security checks by...

Customized Warning Levels and Code Analysis for External Headers

Will Buik June 30, 2021 Jun 30, 2021 06/30/21

If you have tried to keep your code clean by selecting strict compiler warning levels or code analysis rulesets, you likely know how frustrating it can be to see these warnings for headers that are not part of your project. To alleviate this, we’ve made it easy to mark headers as external to your project in the latest preview Visual Studio ...

STL Visualizers on GitHub

Anju Del Moral Gonzalez June 23, 2021 Jun 23, 2021 06/23/21

We are happy to announce that now it’s possible to contribute to the STL Visualizers for Visual Studio's debugger on GitHub. A visualizer is a file with .natvis extension that allows you to manipulate the way native types appear in the debugger's watch window.  We've been working on fixing existing issues with the visualizers ...

Address Sanitizer Now in “Early Release” for Xbox Developers

David Li June 22, 2021 Jun 22, 2021 06/22/21

Address Sanitizer is now available on Xbox, developers can leverage this powerful technology to help debug memory issues in their titles.  Combined with the crash dump changes detailed here, it should provide all the flexibility required to support your automated tests suites and enable you to find issues quickly and easily.

Static Analysis Fixes, Improvements, and Updates in Visual Studio 2019 version 16.10

Jordan Maples June 10, 2021 Jun 10, 2021 06/10/21

The C++ static analysis team is committed to making your C++ coding experience as safe as possible. We are adding richer code safety checks and addressing high impact customer feedback bugs posted on the  C++ Developer Community page. Thank you for engaging with us and giving us great feedback on the past releases and early previews leading ...

<format> in Visual Studio 2019 version 16.10

Charlie Barto June 9, 2021 Jun 9, 2021 06/9/21

C++20 adds a new text formatting facility to the standard library, designed primarily to replace snprintf and friends with a fast and type safe interface. The standardized library is based on the existing {fmt} library, so users of that library will feel at home. Before diving into how std::format works I want to thank Victor Zverovich, ...

C++20’s Extensions to Chrono Available in Visual Studio 2019 version 16.10

Miya Natsuhara June 1, 2021 Jun 1, 2021 06/1/21

While the <chrono> header has been available as part of the STL since C++11, among the changes included in C++20 there were several extensions to chrono including support for calendrical types, time zones, leap seconds, and integration with format. A great deal of innovation and work was required in order to complete these additional ...

Preview of using CMake Presets for Azure Sphere development

Marc Goodner May 27, 2021 May 27, 2021 05/27/21

We are happy to announce that CMake Presets preview support is available in the Visual Studio 16.10 release as well as CMake Tools version 1.7 for Visual Studio Code. Erika introduced CMake Presets and why you should use them, this post will focus on how they can be used for Azure Sphere development across Visual Studio, VS Code, and GitHub...