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I've been tinkering with Visual C++. But I have heard it isn't used much in industry. C# seems to be much more popular. This makes me wonder why MS bothered to keep both platforms in development? Is there something special that Visual C++ is used for that C# can't handle?

MPelletier
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  • While your question may be genuine, the assumptions you are basing it on are stated in a way that makes this question seem likely to spark argument rather than discussion, and not find "answers". You would be more likely to get answers with just the first and last sentences and the rest edited out. – Philip Rieck Feb 09 '11 at 14:49
  • I just realized I may have "offended" some people. Genuinely, I didn't mean to. I wasn't implying C++ was going away, just that it seemed strange MS kept two similar language platforms in development at the same time. –  Feb 09 '11 at 14:54

6 Answers6

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To learn the main differences between the two languages, you should take a look at THIS article.

oopbase
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you have heard wrong...

to my knowledge, most of the most popular commercial applications are native application developed in Visual C++ ( or C++ with other compilers ):

Word, Excel, Sql Server, Visual Studio, Corel Draw, Internet Explorer... are NOT developed in .NET

Davide Piras
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Facts:

  • Microsoft does not "give C++ away"
  • C++ and C# are different
  • Visual C++ is widely used
  • Visual C# is widely used.

Is Visual C# more used than Visual C++ today? Possibly. But that does not mean Visual C++ is going away.

Simon Mourier
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Microsoft doesn't "give away" Visual C++. There is a free limited edition of the software, but the real professional tool is sold. And while MS would like you to think C# is much more popular, a whole lot of professional programming is done in C++, much more than in C#.

And for developing in advanced C++ on Windows, Visual C++ is an incredibly strong tool, including a great debugger. C++ is not going away, and neither is Visual C++.

Fred
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C++ still has a huge following, it is a very powerful language and a lot of major applications still run on C++, to answer your question in short - Microsoft still supports C++ because it would lose business if it didnt. People who work primarily in C++ would have to look elswhere for a IDE supporting C++.

To name one, C++ provides more freedom to fine tune your applications at a lower level.

kyndigs
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Here's a previous stackoverflow question comparing the two: Visual C++ versus Visual C# , which is the best to learn?

And here's and MSDN page comparing C++ to C#: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/yyaad03b(v=VS.90).aspx

I use C# daily at my job, and I think it's here to stay for a long time. :o) (And if you're writing software for a Windows machine C# is a great option! :o) )

Community
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Ashley Grenon
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