Walkthrough: Building a Project (C++)

In this walkthrough, you deliberately introduce a Visual C++ syntax error in your code to learn what a compilation error looks like and how to fix it. When you compile the project, an error message indicates what the problem is and where it occurred.

Prerequisites

To fix compilation errors

  1. In TestGames.cpp, delete the semicolon in the last line so that it resembles this:

    return 0

  2. On the menu bar, choose Build, Build Solution.

  3. A message in the Error List window indicates that there was an error in the building of the project. The description looks something like this:

    error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '}'

    To view help information about this error, highlight it in the Error List window and then choose the F1 key.

  4. Add the semicolon back to the end of the line that has the syntax error:

    return 0;

  5. On the menu bar, choose Build, Build Solution.

    A message in the Output window indicates that the project compiled successfully.

    1>------ Build started: Project: Game, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
    

1> TestGames.cpp 1> Game.vcxproj -> C:\Users<username>\Documents\Visual Studio 2012\Projects\Game\Debug\Game.exe ========== Build: 1 succeeded, 0 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

Next Steps

Previous:Walkthrough: Working with Projects and Solutions (C++) | Next:Walkthrough: Testing a Project (C++)

See Also

Tasks

Visual C++ Guided Tour

Other Resources

Building and Debugging