What compiler is in Visual Studio 2015 - c++

Question

Can anyone tell me what compiler is built-in to Visual Studio 2015 for C++ projects? I tried it and tried older version compilers and it's giving me other compiling results. Is it GNU C++ version 4.8.2 or a newer version?

Answer 1

They have their own compiler that goes by Visual C++ _____
Here is a mapping of the IDE version to the compiler version. They generally release a major compiler version with each major IDE version.
IDE Version
Compiler Version
Visual Studio 2005
Visual C++ 8.0
Visual Studio 2008
Visual C++ 9.0
Visual Studio 2010
Visual C++ 10.0
Visual Studio 2012
Visual C++ 11.0
Visual Studio 2013
Visual C++ 12.0
Visual Studio 2015
Visual C++ 14.0
Visual Studio 2017
Visual C++ 14.1
Visual Studio 2019
Visual C++ 14.2
Visual Studio 2022
Visual C++ 14.3
So to explicitly answer your question, Visual Studio 2015 uses the compiler Visual C++ 14.0

Answer 2

You can get some useful information running this:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("_MSC_VER : %d \n", _MSC_VER);
printf("_MSC_FULL_VER : %d \n", _MSC_FULL_VER);
printf("_MSC_BUILD : %d \n", _MSC_BUILD);
#ifdef _MSVC_LANG
printf("_MSVC_LANG : C++%d \n", (_MSVC_LANG/100)%2000);
#endif
return 0;
}
Common MSVC versions:
MSVC++ 9.0 _MSC_VER == 1500 (Visual Studio 2008)
MSVC++ 10.0 _MSC_VER == 1600 (Visual Studio 2010)
MSVC++ 11.0 _MSC_VER == 1700 (Visual Studio 2012)
MSVC++ 12.0 _MSC_VER == 1800 (Visual Studio 2013)
MSVC++ 14.0 _MSC_VER == 1900 (Visual Studio 2015)
MSVC++ 14.1 _MSC_VER == 1910 (Visual Studio 2017)
Macros interpretation:
_MSVC_LANG : Defined as an integer literal that specifies the C++ language standard targeted by the compiler
_MSC_VER : contains the major and minor version numbers as an integer (e.g. "1500" is version 15.00)
_MSC_FULL_VER : contains the major version, minor version, and build numbers as an integer (e.g. "150020706" is version 15.00.20706)
_MSC_BUILD : contains the revision number after the major version, minor version, and build numbers (e.g. "1" is revision 1, such as for 15.00.20706.01)

Answer 3

The C/C++ compiler in Visual Studio is and always has been Microsoft C++ Compiler, built by Microsoft (not based on anything else.)
Right now, this is how the compiler names itself:
Microsoft (R) C/C++ Optimizing Compiler Version 19.00.23026
In VS2015, the compiler can target x86 and x64, as well as ARM. It supports almost all of C++11 and C99, and a large part of C++14, plus a little bit of the C++17 (or whenever) draft.

Answer 4

Basically, Visual Studio 2015 supports compiler Visual C++ 14.0. But for more detail, you can track what features of C++ 14.0 has already been implemented here.
Also, I like Dorin's answer, he pointed out a way to check compiler version with code.