We recently migrated quite a large piece of software written mainly in C (some parts are C++) from Visual Studio 2008 to Visual Studio 2017. Most of the software originates from the 80s / early 90s.
While testing the new binaries we keep running into bugs caused by memory overflows. These memory overflows seem to have been in there forever but apparently never exposed themselves under older versions of the MSVC compiler. While it is good that they are found and fixed, it would be nice to know what causes these to be exposed now.
Did the memory management of Visual C change a lot between 2008 and 2017? Can anyone point me towards documentation on this subject?
The most relevant compiler option would be /GS, which is a buffer security check. This intentionally tries to detect the sort of problem you're describing, because these class of problems often end up as exploitable security issues. Crashing early is a better alternative.
Would like to ask a general question.
Would be trying to scope the difficulties and effort require to build a code (which was earlier build in MSVC 2005) in MSVC 2010.
I am not using any MFC, just using plain C++?
What would be the problems that I might face? Would appreciate any help to also highlight considerations that I should look into
Tthanks
Microsoft keeps a list of breaking changes to the compiler on each major release, you can find that list here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb531344(v=vs.100).aspx. If you are going from 2005 to 2010 then you will want to look at both 2008 and 2010 changes.
Any Alternative extensions for Visual Studio C++ 2010 express like Visual Assist X ?
I am personally not aware of any. I don't think VS2010 Express supports VAX to begin with.
Since you only mention C++ - if you want a decent FREE IDE with good "intellisense", auto-complete, refactoring, snippets and code generation (the hallmarks of VAX) - I recommend Qt Creator. It is originally intended for using with the Qt framework, but can be used standalone with any compiler you want. It is smaller and faster than VS, plus it is portable and has the advantage of being a fully fledged product, where VS Express is a cut down version.
Last time I checked, Eclipse was also doing well in this regard, but it is a little clumsy and heavy, probably because it is written in Java.
I searched around for the answers to these questions, but I have had little luck. So, I thought I would post them here to get some clarification. If this is a duplicate, please let me know, and I will close this.
Okay, with that said, I would like to begin learning C++. I come from a C# background and I have a great respect for Visual Studio and what it can do. Now, my question is. How well does Visual Studio's compiler work for C++ as opposed to a non-Microsoft version (such as MinGW)?
My thing is this. I have nothing wrong with Microsoft, but I would really like to learn C++ in a "pure" form and not scewed by any particular implementation. How reliant is Visual C++ on the .NET Framework? Can a "pure" C++ application be created through Visual Studio without any .NET usage or overhead? Does the Visual Studio compiler compile C++ into CIL like it does with C#/VB, or does it compile it all the way down as others do?
Thanks for any help anyone can provide!
The Visual C++ compiler will compile C++ code into standalone EXEs that have nothing to do with the .NET framework.
The only way to get the .NET baggage thrown in is to compile the C++ as "managed".
If you create a new project (File|New|New Project) Then choose "Win32" from the Visual C++ submenu in the project types and choose "Win32 Console Application" Visual studio will create a simple project with a couple of source files that will compile to a little executable.
Most of the time, Visual C++ is very similar to other compilers. Avoid #pragmas, microsoft libraries (MFC, ATL) and you should be fine.
Edit (thanks Cheeso) - Documentation of where Visual C++ diverges from standard.
In general I would advise using boost libraries for threads and networking because they work on many platforms (i.e linux). Also if your code can compile in GCC and Visual Studio then you are doing a good job keeping it portable.
The most recent versions of VC++ have become significantly more compliant to the C++ standard, so it's not really an issue to write "pure" C++ using Visual Studio, presuming that you stay out of the Windows API, COM+ and ATL. In fact, the documentation with Visual Studio is very rich, with details on the standard libraries and the STL, so it can help you learn a great deal. It can't teach you everything, but it's certainly loaded up with a wealth of information that is portable to any compiler and it is very easily accessbible inside the IDE.
If you create a new solution you should choose new Win32 Project, or Win32 Console Application, and check the 'Empty Project' option. Then you can add a main.cpp file, and add your standard C++ code.
If you like Visual Studio, go ahead and use it to learn C++ -- I haven't used the very latest version, but even the previous one was pretty standards-compliant, C++-wise, and I assume the latest one can only have gotten better. You can have many different kinds of project in Visual Studio, including "console apps", which are the "plain vanilla" kind you could make on any platform, and also many other kinds, such as, windows apps using the good old win32 api, ones made with MFC or other frameworks older than .NET, .NET ones using "managed code", etc.
Just make sure you always work in a "console app" project, and you'll be operating pretty closely to how you would be on other platforms and/or with other C++ IDEs.
If you limit yourself to writing ANSI C++ compliant code then what you write in VS will work in other compilers, until you have to interact with a graphic interface or IO. Then you need to make certain that you are using something that is portable, such as OpenGL, and not DirectX.
To set your project the steps here may be useful:
http://bytes.com/topic/net/answers/447572-strict-ansi-c
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 comes with a very good, C++98 standard compliant pure C++ compiler. If you are interested in pure C++, don't forget to disable language extensions in project settings and you are good to go. Nobody is going to force you to use .NET framework, MFC or anyting like that. Just pure core C++ language and C++ standard library.
Of course, just like any other compiler, it has known non-compliance issues, but in general it is, again, surprisingly good. Older versions of their compiler (MS VS 6.0 specifically) suffered from many non-compliance problems and could not even compile its own header files with language extensions disabled. In 2005 version they fixed a lot of these issues.
After creating a standard Win32 project, you can turn up the compliance a bit more. On the project properties sheet, there's a C/C++ category, with a Language entry. This lists a number of cases where VC++ can differ from the standard. Here, you'd want to turn OFF language extensions, and turn ON "wchar_t as built-in type", "for-loop conformance" and "RTTI support".
I'm learning C++, and I want to know from those who are very good developers now: What is the best IDE, Visual C++ 2008 Express or Eclipse Ganymede with CDT? Remember that I'm using Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate. Thanks!
The book that I'm reading is from Deitel: C++ How to Program, 5/e, because I don't know if the code of the book supports Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express.
I'm using both regularly now.
Visual studio is easier and more user friendly. I have issues with it though. They force you to do a number of things for reasons the benefit Microsoft and not you. It's free so you can't complain that much. Support is non existent but there's google for help.
Eclipse Gallileo does some difficult things startlingly well, but does some simple stuff startlingly badly. Such as when you compile if there's an error you get no visual indication. You have to open the problems window to see the errors. DOH! Eclipse is nearly as good as visual studio overall and is one of the best when using linux. The new version of the debugger has some very nice new features as well. Support is poor to non existent but there's google for help.
I tried codeblocks. The support was not very good to rude. I found it difficult to do anything serious with.
If you're working on Windows, MSVC++ 2008 Express is probably the one to go with, since it's the platform's native compiler. If you don't have any experience with Eclipse already, definitely go with MSVC. I've found Eclipse to be very counter-intuitive, but that's me, you may love it.
I use codeblocks :) I like it a lot actually. Its interface is really easy to use.
I am having issues with MSVS right now which I will be posting a question about here in a few minutes.
Either will do you fine at this stage, but on balance I think you will find VS 2008 Express a little more straightforward unless you have much Eclipse experience.
That said, once you begin developing your OS you may find that you need to upgrade to the full (non-Express) version.
I use both Visual Studio 2005 Pro (at work) and Eclipse CDT (for personal projects).
I do prefer to use Eclipse because I program meanly Qt applications on Windows with it. The Qt integration module is really good (and available freely at http://qt.nokia.com/).
Once you are there, you could give a try also to Qt's lightweight IDE: Qt Creator.
If you are going to do C++ GUI programming, I think you should definitively go with Eclipse CDT and the Qt Integration plugin. I've programmed (and suffering) several years of MFC before learning Qt and I will never go back!
Hope it helps!