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Visual C++ Documentation | Microsoft Docs

Learn how to use C++ to develop applications, services, and tools for your platforms and devices.

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Install Visual Studio and choose your C++ workloads
Get Started with Visual Studio and C++
What’s new for C++ in Visual Studio 2017

Visual C++ Documentation

Workloads
- Workloads
  - Universal Windows Platform development
    
    Develop apps for the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) using C++.
  - Windows development with C++
    
    Create classic Windows desktop applications, static libs and DLLs using Win32, MFC, ATL, COM, and/or C++/CLI.
  - Linux development
    
    Create applications for various Linux distros.
  - Mobile development with C++
    
    Create mobile applications for iOS, Android, and UWP.
  - Game development with C++
    
    Create games and graphics applications using DirectX, Unreal, Cocos2D, and more.
  - Python
    
    Use Python Tools for Visual Studio to create Python applications that interact with C++ programs.
Features
- Features
  - Develop
    
    Write, refactor, explore and understand your code using the code editor.
  - Build
    
    Compile and link your code, and optimize for maximum throughput.
  - Debug
    
    Debug your C++ code with the Visual Studio debugger.
  - Test
    
    Create unit tests for your C++ code.
  - Deploy
    
    Distribute your finished program to end-users.
  - Improve Performance
    
    Identify bottlenecks and optimize code performance by using diagnostic tools.
  - Porting and Upgrading
    
    Upgrade to the latest version of Visual Studio and migrate legacy apps to modern platforms.
Languages and Libraries
- Languages and Libraries
  - Standard C/C++ Language and Libraries
    
    Microsoft implementation of the C/C++ programming languages and libraries.
  - Component Extensions
    
    Component extensions to C++: C++/CLI for .NET programming and C++/CX for UWP programming.
  - Windows Desktop Libraries
    
    Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) and Active Template Library (ATL)
  - Parallel Programming Libraries
    
    Concrt, AMP, and OpenMP libraries for parallel programming.
  - Networking Libraries
    
    C++ REST SDK (code named Casablanca) open-source library for web programming.
  - Universal Windows Platform Libraries
    
    The Windows Runtime C++ Template Library (WRL) is a template library that provides a low-level way to author and use Windows Runtime components.