C/C++ Building Reference
Visual C++ provides two ways of building a C/C++ program. The easiest (and most common) way is to build within the Visual C++ development environment. The other way is to build from a command prompt using command-line tools. In either case, you can create your source files using the Visual C++ source editor or a third-party editor of your choice.
If your program uses a makefile rather than a .vcproj file, you can still build it in the development environment as an external project.
In This Section
- Frequently Asked Questions on Building
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Provides links to frequently asked questions when building.
- Compiling a C/C++ Program
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Describes the compiler, which creates an object file containing machine code, linker directives, sections, external references, and function/data names.
- Linking
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Describes the linker, which combines code from the object files created by the compiler and from statically linked libraries, resolves the name references, and creates an executable file.
- Release Builds
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Presents information on why and when you would want to change from a debug build to a release build and also discusses some of the problems you may encounter when changing from a debug to a release build.
- Optimizing Your Code
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Provides links to topics discussing the mechanisms for optimizing code:
- C/C++ Build Tools
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Provides the following command-line tools for viewing or manipulating build output:
- C/C++ Build Errors
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Introduces the build errors section in the table of contents.