C++ Class. What VS to Download?

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PoleVault

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I'm taking a C++ class and I am not sure where or what to download. We use visual studio in class but i think its an older version.

Can i get Visual Studio for free online? Do i need to download a trial version or can i get the whole package free?(maybe an older version)


thanks for the help.
 
You can get Visual Studio Express for free - it's a stripped down version of the full version that is aimed at students and hobbyists.

Visual C++ 2008 Express - does not include MFC, ATL, OpenMP, nor resource editor.
http://www.microsoft.com/express/vc/

However, if you're using a much older version (and learning materials with it) of Visual Studio, you will want to make sure you can use VS2008 to code with, to make sure that the code can compile under the older version successfully.
 
Most schools have an MSDN site license where you can download Visual Studio for free use as a student. I did this to get Visual Studio 97, 6.0, and a couple of the .NET releases.

If you're not using MFC or other proprietary Microsoft API's then I second the recomendation for Dev-C++. I used Visual Studio in school because I had to, but I use Dev-C++ in my professional and personal projects.
 
I personally think Visual C++ is a far more complete IDE than Dev-C++, so I'd recommend you work with that. Also, software development in general uses it (from my experience), so it's good to get familiar with its settings, its debugger, and its quirks (yes, it does have some occasionally maddening quirks).
 
Cyrilix said:
Also, software development in general uses it (from my experience), so it's good to get familiar with its settings, its debugger, and its quirks (yes, it does have some occasionally maddening quirks).
Click to expand...

This depends _entirely_ on the target market of the software. "In general" is a bit too general. I work with a lot of people on a regular basis who don't use it at all. And these are top-tier A-list companies. I know of at least two companies that develop high-level software on UNIX first (due to UNIX/Linux's more accurate timing of the kernel) and then port to Win32 once they're satisfied that their codebase is sane.

Many use Intel (or AMD, depending) compilers and debuggers. A lot use third-party assemblers and linkers as well. Thus, their need for MSVS is minimized.

The only reason I can think of where you would say " I _have_ to use MSVS" is if you are developing an MFC/.NET/DirectX app and need to rely on that API. If you're working with the Win32 API you don't need MSVS since those headers are public.
 
svet-am, I think you're right. We probably just do different things. My bad for overgeneralizing. That said, if you're in a big company with a huge code base, I tend to think that you'll run into it sometime or another. There is no reason for having to use it but I think that it's just a very powerful and easy to use tool that's integrated into any kind of Windows development (if you do Windows development).
 
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