C++ Team Blog

New Compiler Warnings for Dynamic Initialization and User Defined Sections

Xiang Fan August 24, 2021 Aug 24, 2021 08/24/21

We've added two new warnings to MSVC for misuses of binary sections reserved for the compiler. This short post will explain the issues which they warn against, and potential fixes for your code. The MSVC C++ compiler provides several ways to create sections and place data in them. The linker will convert them into the 'sections' in the PE (...

Attach to a Remote Process with LLDB in Visual Studio 2022 Preview 3

Erika Sweet August 11, 2021 Aug 11, 2021 08/11/21

You can now use Attach to Process to remote debug processes with GDB or LLDB in Visual Studio. The ability to attach to a process running on a remote system with GDB was added in Visual Studio 2019. The ability to attach to a process with LLDB is new in Visual Studio 2022 Preview 3. Remote debugging in Visual Studio is especially valuable ...

ARM64EC Support in Visual Studio

Moyo Okeremi August 10, 2021 Aug 10, 2021 08/10/21

ARM64EC (“Emulation Compatible”) is a new application binary interface for building apps for Windows 11 on ARM. With ARM64EC, you can build new native apps that can run on ARM or incrementally transition existing x64 apps to native performance on ARM. With Visual Studio, you can start building your projects as ARM64EC and enjoy the benefits.

Moving a project to C++ named Modules

Cameron DaCamara August 10, 2021 Aug 10, 2021 08/10/21

There is a lot of hype (and perhaps restraint) to using modules in projects. The general blocker tends to be build support, but even with good build support there is a distinct lack of useful resources for practices around moving projects to using named modules (not just header units). In this blog we will take a small project I created, ...

Edit Your C++ Code while Debugging with Hot Reload in Visual Studio 2022

David Li July 29, 2021 Jul 29, 2021 07/29/21

In Visual Studio 2022 Preview 2, we are happy to announce that Hot Reload is now supported for C++. Hot Reload for C++, powered by Edit and Continue, is a new way of editing your code during debugging.

Visual Studio Code C++ July 2021 Update: Disassembly View, Macro Expansion and Windows ARM64 Debugging

Julia Reid July 28, 2021 Jul 28, 2021 07/28/21

The July 2021 update of the C++ extension for Visual Studio Code is here, bringing you brand new features— such as a Disassembly View while debugging, inline macro expansions, and debug support for Windows ARM64 architecture—along with a bunch of enhancements and bug fixes. To find out more about all the enhancements, check out our ...

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 Sweet 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 ...