C++ and VC++ Differences

[Michael]

I was just wondering before I got started on any projects, what are the
differences between C++ that is taught in some text books, like the For
Dummies books, and the C++ that Visual Studio uses?

Thanks

[Scott McPhillips [MVP]]

Post by Michael
I was just wondering before I got started on any projects, what are the
differences between C++ that is taught in some text books, like the For
Dummies books, and the C++ that Visual Studio uses?
Thanks

The C++ that Visual Studio uses is very conformant to C++ standards. If you
create console based applications your text book examples should work.

Visual Studio adds numerous tools and libraries for programming GUIs.

[David Wilkinson]

Post by Michael
I was just wondering before I got started on any projects, what are the
differences between C++ that is taught in some text books, like the For
Dummies books, and the C++ that Visual Studio uses?

Just to addd to Scott's response. Visual C++ is actually three separate compilers

A C compiler
A standard C++ compiler
A C++/CLI compiler

The first two have excellent standards compliance, and you should have no
trouble using source code form Visual C++ on other platforms.

C++/CLI is for managed (.NET) code. Its main purpose is writing managed wrappers
for legacy standard C++ code. The wrapped code can be used from other .NET
languages like C# or VB.NET.

[Tim Roberts]

Post by David Wilkinson

Post by Michael
I was just wondering before I got started on any projects, what are the
differences between C++ that is taught in some text books, like the For
Dummies books, and the C++ that Visual Studio uses?

Just to addd to Scott's response. Visual C++ is actually three separate compilers
A C compiler
A standard C++ compiler
A C++/CLI compiler
The first two have excellent standards compliance, and you should have no
trouble using source code form Visual C++ on other platforms.

...with the one major caveat that the "C compiler" is compliant with the
1989 C standard, not the 1999 C standard. In my mind, that is growing into
an embarrassment for Microsoft. Would the world have taken Microsoft
seriously if it had ignored the 1989 standard well into the 20th Century?

[Bo Persson]

Post by Tim Roberts

Post by David Wilkinson

Post by Michael
I was just wondering before I got started on any projects, what
are the differences between C++ that is taught in some text
books, like the For Dummies books, and the C++ that Visual Studio
uses?

Just to addd to Scott's response. Visual C++ is actually three separate compilers
A C compiler
A standard C++ compiler
A C++/CLI compiler
The first two have excellent standards compliance, and you should
have no trouble using source code form Visual C++ on other
platforms.

...with the one major caveat that the "C compiler" is compliant
with the 1989 C standard, not the 1999 C standard. In my mind,
that is growing into an embarrassment for Microsoft. Would the
world have taken Microsoft seriously if it had ignored the 1989
standard well into the 20th Century?

It seems like C99 support is seriously ignored in most places.

http://gcc.gnu.org/c99status.html


Bo Persson

[Tim Roberts]

Post by Bo Persson

Post by Tim Roberts
...with the one major caveat that the "C compiler" is compliant
with the 1989 C standard, not the 1999 C standard. In my mind,
that is growing into an embarrassment for Microsoft. Would the
world have taken Microsoft seriously if it had ignored the 1989
standard well into the 20th Century?

It seems like C99 support is seriously ignored in most places.
http://gcc.gnu.org/c99status.html

I'm not clear on why you think this supports your statement. Gcc has had
C99 support for almost a decade, as this chart attests. Not 100% support,
but it's hardly what I would call "seriously ignored".

[Bo Persson]

Post by Tim Roberts

Post by Bo Persson

Post by Tim Roberts
...with the one major caveat that the "C compiler" is compliant
with the 1989 C standard, not the 1999 C standard. In my mind,
that is growing into an embarrassment for Microsoft. Would the
world have taken Microsoft seriously if it had ignored the 1989
standard well into the 20th Century?

It seems like C99 support is seriously ignored in most places.
http://gcc.gnu.org/c99status.html

I'm not clear on why you think this supports your statement. Gcc
has had C99 support for almost a decade, as this chart attests.
Not 100% support, but it's hardly what I would call "seriously
ignored".

The list shows another compiler that has 10+ features missing or
broken 10 years after the C99 standard.

On the other hand, both gcc 4.4/4.5 and VC10 implement a lot of
features of C++0x even BEFORE that standard comes out.

To me that shows that there just isn't a great interest in C99.


Bo Persson