MSVC

Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC) is Microsoft's proprietary integrated development environment (IDE) and compiler for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages. It is a core component of Visual Studio, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for developing native Windows applications, games,…

Key facts

First appeared: 1993
Category: technology
Problem solved: MSVC was created to provide a robust, integrated, and visually-driven development environment for C/C++ on Microsoft's Windows platform, addressing the pain points of fragmented command-line tools and limited debugging capabilities prevalent in earlier development workflows.
Platforms: Universal Windows Platform (UWP) (target), Windows IoT (target), Linux (via WSL and cross-compilation with Clang/GCC), Windows (target), Xbox (target), Android (via Clang toolset in Visual Studio), Windows (as development host)

Related technologies

Notable users

Many enterprise software development companies
Activision Blizzard
Epic Games (Unreal Engine development)
Electronic Arts
Unity Technologies (Unity Engine development)
Microsoft Corporation
Adobe Systems