"MSBuild Tools" is a free MS compiler used by VS which can be deployed and used without licences : GREAT but managed code only !
It seems the C/C++ compile versions used by VS can't be installed in stand alone and then are not licence free. Nearest tool available seems to be VS Express Edition (but we need it on a multi user server and we can't set multi product key)
Would you have any idea in mind to use the same compiler than VS (not GCC,...) for free on a compilation server ?
Ty for help
--- EDITs
I work for a company with more than 5 developpers :)
When I did DL MS Build Tools 2015, I got a very small setup (24Mo) witch needs only 200Mo once installed and only contains managed build tools
You have two options for a stand-alone compiler that is ABI compatible with Visual Studio:
The visual studio build tools can be used under the same license terms as visual studio. In other words, if you have a licensed version OR you qualify for the Community edition, you can use these.
Clang produces binaries that are ABI-compatible with visual studio, so you can mix and match. A recent push by Microsoft allows it to produce PDB files for Visual Studio as well.
Hi and thanks for your help wich guided me to the solution.
It's necessary to log in my.visualstudio.com in order to be able to download MS Build Tools :
They exist in different versions, I did choose :
C++ Build Tools 2015U3
.Net Build Tools 2015U3
Build Tools 2017 - 15.9 (they Added C++ and managed Inside the same setup)
Those compilers cover my needs but you can find Build Tools 2013 for .Net (not C++) and no Build Tools for older versions.
Please note they are free and don't need a licence key.
Related
As far as I understand, Visual Studio 2015 is shipped with clang. First I though this was only for Android and iOS apps, but according to this article it should also be possible to use the clang++ frontend for Windows programs. However, I can't find the according option.
So could you please explain to me, how I can change the used compiler to clang in a c++ project (in VS2015 RC Community Edition).
Starting with VS2015 Update 1 you can install the "Clang with Microsoft CodeGen" template via the New Project window, browse to Installed -> Templates -> Visual C++ -> Cross Platform.
You will then be able to choose the Clang 3.7 with Microsoft CodeGen v140_clang_3_7 Platform Toolset in the properties page of any Windows C++ project.
Clang has a completely different set of command-line options which it recognizes, so when using the v140_clang_3_7 toolset, the project properties must be using Clang-compatible options, which can be recognized as starting with - instead of /. For example, Debug Information Format property set to "Full Debug Information (DWARF2) (-g2 -gdwarf-2)", and Enable C++ Exceptions property set to "Yes (-fexceptions)".
There's more information in this blog post.
As far as I understand it both Clang and GCC are shipped with the Android and iOS crossplatform SDKs/tools for Visual Studio 2015.
From what I've seen it only allows me to choose those while having one of those crossplatform projects.
Using the template project for a GLES C++ application you get the following options:
While for a Windows C++ application you get the dialog below where you can see that Windows target platform is grayed out and read-only, meaning you probably have a set of toolkits for each target platform, but you simply cannot change it, at least for now.
Have no idea how you turn a normal VS project into crossplatform though, and it's likely that you can only target Android or iOS out of the box using 3rd party compilers.
It may be possible, though, to install Clang as another toolkit in the same way the XP toolkits are. So perhaps it's just a matter of someone fiddling with it and making it available as it is already installed.
Caveat: This answer is pre-VS2015 update 1 which didn't have the "Clang with Microsoft CodeGen" option.
After reading through the linked post and especially the comments again, I came to understand, that this is not a feature shipped with VS2015 RC but a possible future feature that might e.g. be shipped in a SP or (more likely) with the next version of VS.
As mentioned by sjdowling, the closest thing you can do at the moment (October 2015, clang 3.7) is to download and install llvm for windows. This should give you a LLVM-vs2014 platform toolset option. For me it works for simple test programs, but apparently this version of "clang-vs" seems to not yet support exceptions. However, according to these notes, that problem should be mostly solved for clang 3.8.
While the above solutions work they require that you have installed clang which is off by default in the visual studio 2015 installation. The accepted answer does show how to install it, though the next page will ask you to close visual studio which you are running the new project from.
If anyone is wondering how to install clang because it does not show up in their list here is another solution:
Control Panel->Programs->Programs and Features.
Right click on “Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise 2015” (or
“Microsoft Visual
Studio 15 Preview” if you have the preview of the next version of
Visual Studio installed)
Click “Change”
Click “Modify”
Select “Clang with Microsoft CodeGen” – The March 2016 release.
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/03/31/clang-with-microsoft-codegen-march-2016-released/
As per the title. I don't want to download the entire Visual C++ installer, only "cl.exe" and the other programs required for compiling and linking C++ programs on Windows.
As said, there is no way to do that. You need to download the entire 4-6GB+ bundle. MS deployment is a botch.
There is no need, however, to actually install everything. If you're up to some manual installation, you can extract individual components from the bundle and put them all in a more organized directory tree.
For example, I've found the following set to be the bare minimum needed for using the current MSVC2013 compilers in a x86 environment:
vc_compilerCore86.msi: MSVC toolchain;
vc_compilerCore86res.msi: MSVC toolchain MUI resources;
vc_librarycore86.msi: MSVC library stuff;
vc_LibraryDesktopX86.msi: More MSVC library stuff;
Windows Software Development Kit for Windows Store Apps-x86_en-us.msi: Windows SDK files and related tools (rc.exe, mt.exe, etc.);
Windows Software Development Kit-x86_en-us.msi: More Windows SDK files (specifically, WinSock2.h, WS2_32.lib, maybe others).
Remember that you can extract the contents of a MSI file by running msiexec /a <msifile> TARGETDIR="<path>" (jot a /quiet parameter if you're batching). Of course, you can also put more into your package by investigating the MSI files inside the bundle. In particular, the above set is missing the latest MSBuild tools, since I don't care for them. Stuff is often scattered around between multiple MSIs cluelessly, so good luck.
I've got a 50MB (!!!) 7z-file containing this set for local deployment, though I cannot share this publicly due to Microsoft licensing restrictions.
UPDATE:
This is the list of MSI files for MSVC2015 tools, headers and libraries:
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.Core\VC_Tools.Core.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.Core.Res\VC_Tools.Core.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Base\VC_Tools.X86.Base.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Base.Res\VC_Tools.X86.Base.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Nat\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.Res\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.X64\VC_Tools.X86.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.X64.Res\VC_Tools.X86.X64.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Base\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.X64\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Headers\VC_CRT.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X86.Desktop\VC_CRT.X86.Desktop.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X86.Store\VC_CRT.X86.Store.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X64.Desktop\VC_CRT.X64.Desktop.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X64.Store\VC_CRT.X64.Store.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.Res\VC_CRT.Redist.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.X86\VC_CRT.Redist.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.X64\VC_CRT.Redist.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.Headers\VC_ATL.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.X86\VC_ATL.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.X64\VC_ATL.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.Headers\VC_MFC.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.X86\VC_MFC.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.X64\VC_MFC.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.Headers\VC_PGO.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.X86\VC_PGO.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.X64\VC_PGO.X64.msi
packages\Win10_UniversalCRTSDK\Universal CRT Headers Libraries and Sources-x86_en-us.msi
And this is the list of MSI files for WinSDK10 tools, headers and libraries (downloaded separately):
Installers\Windows SDK Desktop Headers Libs Metadata-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK Desktop Tools-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Headers Libs-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Tools-x86_en-us.msi
All of this include stuff for both x86 and x64 (I haven't considered ARM or IA64). Both bundles compressed with LZMA will yield a 185MB file.
Locked. There are disputes about this answer’s content being resolved at this time. It is not currently accepting new interactions.
In 2014 you could not download the Visual C++ compiler alone from Microsoft.
It used to be that you could. Then it used to be that you could get it in the Platform SDK. Then you could only get it by installing Visual Studio.
Happily, at that time, the compiler that was bundled with Visual Studio Express for Desktop (the free version of Visual Studio at the time) was, and is, the very same that you get with Professional or Universal editions.
In November 2015 Microsoft again started providing the compiler tools in a free-standing package called the Visual C++ Build Tools.
Microsoft writes:
” the C++ Build Tools installer will not run on a machine with Visual Studio 2015 already installed on it. The reverse (i.e. upgrade to Visual Studio) is supported.
The long term situation is, as always, unclear. And, disclaimer: I have not used the build tools myself – I would have to uninstall Visual Studio first.
I ended up using Chocolatey, which has a package for Visual C++ Build Tools.
This command:
choco install visualcpp-build-tools
will install the latest 2017 version, but you can select one of the older versions, which include the 2015 release.
After the installation Visual Studio 2017 folder is added to the Programs menu. It includes shortcuts to various developer command prompts with cl.exe and other tools in the path.
As of 2019 Microsoft offers Visual Studio Build Tools which only includes the compiler, build tools and SDK. It's hidden in the all downloads list.
Update: The Visual C++ 2015 Build Tools are located here: http://landinghub.visualstudio.com/visual-cpp-build-tools
The Visual C++ 2017 Build Tools are now part of the regular VS 2017 installer. Just select the workloads you need. Information is on the same page.
This link is preferred to the blog links below as it's the official landing page and will be kept up-to-date.
I'm on the C++ team. If you have any questions about using the VC++ Build Tools or about MSVC in general, feel free to email me. My email is my StackOverflow user name #microsoft.com.
Once I tried to do same this as you. But MS doesn't provide isolated compiler. So if you need MS C++ compiler you must need to install the VS. But if you like to adventure. there is a tricky way to do that. Try it here.
Chrees!
You can use MSVC compiler without Visual Studio and the latest version is available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41151
Also here's a website which details the command line options for the compiler:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9s7c9wdw.aspx
As of the time of writing (June 23, 2021), the following info is taken from Configure VS Code for Microsoft C++.
Here is the important quote:
You can also install just the C++ Build Tools, without a full Visual
Studio IDE installation. From the Visual Studio Downloads page, scroll
down until you see Tools for Visual Studio under the All downloads
section and select the download for Build Tools for Visual Studio.
This will launch the Visual Studio Installer, which will bring up a
dialog showing the available Visual Studio Build Tools workloads.
Check the C++ build tools workload and select Install.
Note: You can use the C++ toolset from Visual Studio Build Tools along
with Visual Studio Code to compile, build, and verify any C++ codebase
as long as you also have a valid Visual Studio license (either
Community, Pro, or Enterprise) that you are actively using to develop
that C++ codebase.
As what stated in visual c++ 2015 tools for windows desktop
Mount your VS2015.iso
You can find all packages at your mounted location E:\packages | G:\packages
Navigate to Control Panel.
Right-Click at your VS2015 and choose change-modify
Check the Visual C++ boxes as stated in the link.
Click on Modify.
If installer fail to update, copy the mounted directory location and paste on it.
Click Retry button.
On March 21, 2022, the best I could figure out was to find the "Visual Studio Community" free download (required logging in with Microsoft account). There was no longer any "just give me the damn Build Tools" concept, but there is the promise that you just download an installer and then pick. So I downloaded the installer and ran it.
Of course, none of the top-level options are suitable for "just give me the damn Build Tools", so I pick the "Individual Components" option. This supplies an incredibly large list of things I don't want, but buried within it I find "MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools (Latest)" which looks hopeful. I check that box and I'm informed they will give me also "Visual Studio code editor".
I'm sternly warned that I'm installing "without workloads", which seems to be some additional crap that the "Visual Studio core editor" I'm never going to use wants. I decline the additional bloatware. Some gigabytes later, it says I'm "Done installing" but warns "We recommend rebooting soon to clean up any remaining files."
After decades of (re-)writing scripts to locate the Microsoft compiler, I bow to Microsoft's superior ability to keep breaking any easy method of automating this process. Whenever I install the Microsoft compiler on a system, I manually set a system-wide environment variable that points to the Microsoft batch file for setting shell environment variables for the tools. Today's machine is a no-license (hey, Microsoft sucks the same way, just not as much!) Windows 10, and that is <Winkey>-x | System | Advanced System settings | Environment Variables
I create a variable called RLBVCVARS and set it to (in this particular case) c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat My portable Windows dev environment keeps an alias that points to that so, I can mostly pretend Microsoft doesn't constantly introduce breaking changes to their installation schemes. I think you have to reboot for a "system" environment variable to take effect, but hey, Microsoft wants you to reboot after installing anything anyway, so no biggy.
First compile says can't find "io.h". Back to the installer. Let's try adding "Windows 10 SDK" (3 versions to choose from!). A GB or so later, I have an io.h and can build my current project. Onward and upward.
As per the title. I don't want to download the entire Visual C++ installer, only "cl.exe" and the other programs required for compiling and linking C++ programs on Windows.
As said, there is no way to do that. You need to download the entire 4-6GB+ bundle. MS deployment is a botch.
There is no need, however, to actually install everything. If you're up to some manual installation, you can extract individual components from the bundle and put them all in a more organized directory tree.
For example, I've found the following set to be the bare minimum needed for using the current MSVC2013 compilers in a x86 environment:
vc_compilerCore86.msi: MSVC toolchain;
vc_compilerCore86res.msi: MSVC toolchain MUI resources;
vc_librarycore86.msi: MSVC library stuff;
vc_LibraryDesktopX86.msi: More MSVC library stuff;
Windows Software Development Kit for Windows Store Apps-x86_en-us.msi: Windows SDK files and related tools (rc.exe, mt.exe, etc.);
Windows Software Development Kit-x86_en-us.msi: More Windows SDK files (specifically, WinSock2.h, WS2_32.lib, maybe others).
Remember that you can extract the contents of a MSI file by running msiexec /a <msifile> TARGETDIR="<path>" (jot a /quiet parameter if you're batching). Of course, you can also put more into your package by investigating the MSI files inside the bundle. In particular, the above set is missing the latest MSBuild tools, since I don't care for them. Stuff is often scattered around between multiple MSIs cluelessly, so good luck.
I've got a 50MB (!!!) 7z-file containing this set for local deployment, though I cannot share this publicly due to Microsoft licensing restrictions.
UPDATE:
This is the list of MSI files for MSVC2015 tools, headers and libraries:
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.Core\VC_Tools.Core.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.Core.Res\VC_Tools.Core.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Base\VC_Tools.X86.Base.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Base.Res\VC_Tools.X86.Base.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Nat\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.Res\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.X64\VC_Tools.X86.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.X64.Res\VC_Tools.X86.X64.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Base\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.X64\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Headers\VC_CRT.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X86.Desktop\VC_CRT.X86.Desktop.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X86.Store\VC_CRT.X86.Store.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X64.Desktop\VC_CRT.X64.Desktop.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X64.Store\VC_CRT.X64.Store.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.Res\VC_CRT.Redist.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.X86\VC_CRT.Redist.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.X64\VC_CRT.Redist.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.Headers\VC_ATL.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.X86\VC_ATL.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.X64\VC_ATL.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.Headers\VC_MFC.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.X86\VC_MFC.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.X64\VC_MFC.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.Headers\VC_PGO.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.X86\VC_PGO.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.X64\VC_PGO.X64.msi
packages\Win10_UniversalCRTSDK\Universal CRT Headers Libraries and Sources-x86_en-us.msi
And this is the list of MSI files for WinSDK10 tools, headers and libraries (downloaded separately):
Installers\Windows SDK Desktop Headers Libs Metadata-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK Desktop Tools-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Headers Libs-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Tools-x86_en-us.msi
All of this include stuff for both x86 and x64 (I haven't considered ARM or IA64). Both bundles compressed with LZMA will yield a 185MB file.
Locked. There are disputes about this answer’s content being resolved at this time. It is not currently accepting new interactions.
In 2014 you could not download the Visual C++ compiler alone from Microsoft.
It used to be that you could. Then it used to be that you could get it in the Platform SDK. Then you could only get it by installing Visual Studio.
Happily, at that time, the compiler that was bundled with Visual Studio Express for Desktop (the free version of Visual Studio at the time) was, and is, the very same that you get with Professional or Universal editions.
In November 2015 Microsoft again started providing the compiler tools in a free-standing package called the Visual C++ Build Tools.
Microsoft writes:
” the C++ Build Tools installer will not run on a machine with Visual Studio 2015 already installed on it. The reverse (i.e. upgrade to Visual Studio) is supported.
The long term situation is, as always, unclear. And, disclaimer: I have not used the build tools myself – I would have to uninstall Visual Studio first.
I ended up using Chocolatey, which has a package for Visual C++ Build Tools.
This command:
choco install visualcpp-build-tools
will install the latest 2017 version, but you can select one of the older versions, which include the 2015 release.
After the installation Visual Studio 2017 folder is added to the Programs menu. It includes shortcuts to various developer command prompts with cl.exe and other tools in the path.
As of 2019 Microsoft offers Visual Studio Build Tools which only includes the compiler, build tools and SDK. It's hidden in the all downloads list.
Update: The Visual C++ 2015 Build Tools are located here: http://landinghub.visualstudio.com/visual-cpp-build-tools
The Visual C++ 2017 Build Tools are now part of the regular VS 2017 installer. Just select the workloads you need. Information is on the same page.
This link is preferred to the blog links below as it's the official landing page and will be kept up-to-date.
I'm on the C++ team. If you have any questions about using the VC++ Build Tools or about MSVC in general, feel free to email me. My email is my StackOverflow user name #microsoft.com.
Once I tried to do same this as you. But MS doesn't provide isolated compiler. So if you need MS C++ compiler you must need to install the VS. But if you like to adventure. there is a tricky way to do that. Try it here.
Chrees!
You can use MSVC compiler without Visual Studio and the latest version is available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41151
Also here's a website which details the command line options for the compiler:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9s7c9wdw.aspx
As of the time of writing (June 23, 2021), the following info is taken from Configure VS Code for Microsoft C++.
Here is the important quote:
You can also install just the C++ Build Tools, without a full Visual
Studio IDE installation. From the Visual Studio Downloads page, scroll
down until you see Tools for Visual Studio under the All downloads
section and select the download for Build Tools for Visual Studio.
This will launch the Visual Studio Installer, which will bring up a
dialog showing the available Visual Studio Build Tools workloads.
Check the C++ build tools workload and select Install.
Note: You can use the C++ toolset from Visual Studio Build Tools along
with Visual Studio Code to compile, build, and verify any C++ codebase
as long as you also have a valid Visual Studio license (either
Community, Pro, or Enterprise) that you are actively using to develop
that C++ codebase.
As what stated in visual c++ 2015 tools for windows desktop
Mount your VS2015.iso
You can find all packages at your mounted location E:\packages | G:\packages
Navigate to Control Panel.
Right-Click at your VS2015 and choose change-modify
Check the Visual C++ boxes as stated in the link.
Click on Modify.
If installer fail to update, copy the mounted directory location and paste on it.
Click Retry button.
On March 21, 2022, the best I could figure out was to find the "Visual Studio Community" free download (required logging in with Microsoft account). There was no longer any "just give me the damn Build Tools" concept, but there is the promise that you just download an installer and then pick. So I downloaded the installer and ran it.
Of course, none of the top-level options are suitable for "just give me the damn Build Tools", so I pick the "Individual Components" option. This supplies an incredibly large list of things I don't want, but buried within it I find "MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools (Latest)" which looks hopeful. I check that box and I'm informed they will give me also "Visual Studio code editor".
I'm sternly warned that I'm installing "without workloads", which seems to be some additional crap that the "Visual Studio core editor" I'm never going to use wants. I decline the additional bloatware. Some gigabytes later, it says I'm "Done installing" but warns "We recommend rebooting soon to clean up any remaining files."
After decades of (re-)writing scripts to locate the Microsoft compiler, I bow to Microsoft's superior ability to keep breaking any easy method of automating this process. Whenever I install the Microsoft compiler on a system, I manually set a system-wide environment variable that points to the Microsoft batch file for setting shell environment variables for the tools. Today's machine is a no-license (hey, Microsoft sucks the same way, just not as much!) Windows 10, and that is <Winkey>-x | System | Advanced System settings | Environment Variables
I create a variable called RLBVCVARS and set it to (in this particular case) c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat My portable Windows dev environment keeps an alias that points to that so, I can mostly pretend Microsoft doesn't constantly introduce breaking changes to their installation schemes. I think you have to reboot for a "system" environment variable to take effect, but hey, Microsoft wants you to reboot after installing anything anyway, so no biggy.
First compile says can't find "io.h". Back to the installer. Let's try adding "Windows 10 SDK" (3 versions to choose from!). A GB or so later, I have an io.h and can build my current project. Onward and upward.
Is there a way to compile a Visual Studio 2012 project without having the VS installed? I need to compile C++ stuff for windows quite rarely and buying the product is not justified as there's no profit (community projects). In most of the cases the project and solution files will be available. If there's a way to compile the code with SDK, could you please share an example?
Thanks!
You can download visual studio express for free. Whenever you build a solution, the bin folder in your project folder will contain the compiled code.
http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/downloads/download-visual-studio-vs.aspx
EDITED: (per MS website)
Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop enables the creation of desktop apps in C#, Visual Basic, and C++, and supports Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Forms, and Win32.
Sign in to Visual Studio within 30 days with your Microsoft account to synchronize your settings across multiple machines and register your product.
Your best bet is likely going to be using msbuild which will allow you to build a solution or project without having Visual Studio installed.
If you have the free version VC++ Express installed (and thus the compiler toolchain), you might find it more interesting to use Eclipse CDT as IDE on top. At least the newer versions (I think since Helios) support using the native MS toolchain. You can import from native
VS projects also.
Eclipse is the more powerful IDE IMHO, and will additionally support other toolchains (either cross compiling, or Windows alternatives as MinGw GCC).
I own VS 2008 Pro, and would like to do compatibility testing with VS 2005's runtime MSVCRT80, but I do not want to buy it just for that. Is there a way to link against MSVCRT80 without getting VS 2005?
Thanks
Official support for native multi-targeting didn't appear until Visual Studio 2010, which allows you to select either v100 or v90 as your "Platform Toolset". There is no such feature in Visual Studio 2008.
There is a discussion here on how one can achieve the same effect in Visual Studio 2008, but it appears you need to have VS 2005 installed on your computer as well in order for this to work. It isn't going to work if you just have the runtime libraries installed because you need the proper version of the compiler and linker, which you'll only have if you install VS 2005.
On that note, I'm not really sure what you mean by "compatibility testing". If you compile your app against v90 in VS 2008, it's not going to work with the older versions of the runtime. You have to compile and link against the version you want your app to use.
Finally, consider whether it's really relevant or not. Since you must include MSVCRT with your application anyway, what's the advantage of trying to link against an older version of the runtime? Just include v90 and be done with it.
Links to a still-working (as of 11 Jan 2011) Microsoft download for Visual C++ Express 2005 can be found here:
http://apdubey.blogspot.com/2009/04/microsoft-visual-studio-2005-express.html
This should let you compile against the VS2005 runtime without having to buy anything.
(in case the blogspot article goes away, the link for the .iso is http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=57034).