C++ Team Blog

The latest in C++, Visual Studio, VS Code, and vcpkg from the MSFT C++ team

A Year of C++ Improvements in Visual Studio, VS Code, and vcpkg

As we enter the new year, it’s a good time to look back at all the features and improvements we made for C++ developers in our tools in 2023. We’ve made advancements across Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, our toolchain, and the vcpkg package manager in both performance and functionality. Some particular areas of focus have been ARM64 ...

Debug vcpkg portfiles in CMake script mode with Visual Studio Code

We recently announced support for debugging the CMake language using the VS Code CMake Tools extension. Now in version 1.16 of the extension, you can fine-tune the debugger configuration using a launch.json file. This enables debugging in CMake script mode in addition to the existing debugging of CMake project generation.  CMake script ...

Using system package manager dependencies with vcpkg

According to the C++ 2022 developer survey, the top 3 ways to manage C++ libraries were having the library source code as part of the build, compiling the library separately from instructions, and acquiring the library from a system package manager. Language package managers, such as vcpkg, simplify library management by offering the ease of ...

vcpkg Environment Activation in Visual Studio

In Visual Studio 2022 17.4 vcpkg environments will now automatically activate. A vcpkg environment is described by a manifest that captures the artifacts necessary for building your application (learn more about vcpkg artifacts). Today the vcpkg artifact experience is focused on embedded developers, but we will be expanding this in time to all...

Importing ST projects into Visual Studio Code

In the world of Arm microcontrollers there are many silicon vendors, one of the largest is STMicroelectronics. ST has a large catalog of available devices with many capabilities as well as supporting development boards for evaluating them. They also produce STM32CubeIDE, a custom IDE to use when targeting their devices, and STM32CubeMX, a ...

Bootstrap your dev environment with vcpkg artifacts

Updated May 11, 2022: Using your own registry section revised to reflect metadata format changes. We are happy to announce a new experience for acquiring artifacts using vcpkg. We define an artifact as a set of packages required for a working development environment. Examples of relevant packages include compilers, linkers, debuggers, build...

C++ Cross-Platform Development with Visual Studio 2019 version 16.3: vcpkg, CMake configuration, remote headers, and WSL

In Visual Studio 2019 you can target both Windows and Linux from the comfort of a single IDE. Visual Studio’s native support for CMake lets you open any folder containing C++ code and a CMakeLists.txt file directly in Visual Studio to edit, build, and debug your CMake project on Windows, Linux, and the Windows Subsystem for ...