Visual Studio is an
integrated development environment (IDE) from
Microsoft. It is used to develop
computer programs including
websites,
web apps,
web services and
mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platforms such as
Windows API,
Windows Forms,
Windows Presentation Foundation,
Windows Store and
Microsoft Silverlight. It can produce both
native code and
managed code.
Visual Studio includes a
code editor supporting
IntelliSense (the
code completion component) as well as
code refactoring. The integrated debugger works both as a source-level debugger and a machine-level debugger. Other built-in tools include a
code profiler, designer for building
GUI applications,
web designer,
class designer, and
database schema
The database schema is the structure of a database described in a formal language supported by the database management system (DBMS). The term "schema" refers to the organization of data as a blueprint of how the database is constructed (divide ...
designer. It accepts plug-ins that expand the functionality at almost every level—including adding support for
source control
In software engineering, version control (also known as revision control, source control, or source code management) is a class of systems responsible for managing changes to computer programs, documents, large web sites, or other collections o ...
systems (like
Subversion
Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...
and
Git) and adding new toolsets like editors and visual designers for
domain-specific language
A domain-specific language (DSL) is a computer language specialized to a particular application domain. This is in contrast to a general-purpose language (GPL), which is broadly applicable across domains. There are a wide variety of DSLs, ranging f ...
s or toolsets for other aspects of the
software development lifecycle (like the
Azure DevOps client: Team Explorer).
Visual Studio supports 36 different
programming languages and allows the code editor and debugger to support (to varying degrees) nearly any programming language, provided a language-specific service exists. Built-in languages include
C,
C++,
C++/CLI,
Visual Basic .NET,
C#,
F#,
JavaScript,
TypeScript,
XML,
XSLT
XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is a language originally designed for transforming XML documents into other XML documents, or other formats such as HTML for web pages, plain text or XSL Formatting Objects, which may subseque ...
,
HTML, and
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...
. Support for other languages such as
Python,
Ruby,
Node.js, and
M among others is available via
plug-ins.
Java (and
J#) were supported in the past.
The most basic edition of Visual Studio, the Community edition, is available free of charge. The slogan for Visual Studio Community edition is "Free, fully-featured IDE for students, open-source and individual developers".
, Visual Studio 2022 is a current production-ready version. Visual Studio 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017 are on Extended Support, while 2019 is on Mainstream Support.
Architecture
Visual Studio does not support any programming language, solution or tool intrinsically; instead, it allows the plugging of functionality coded as a VSPackage. When installed, the functionality is available as a ''Service''. The
IDE provides three services: SVsSolution, which provides the ability to enumerate projects and solutions; SVsUIShell, which provides windowing and UI functionality (including tabs, toolbars, and tool windows); and SVsShell, which deals with registration of VSPackages. In addition, the IDE is also responsible for coordinating and enabling communication between services.
All editors, designers, project types and other tools are implemented as VSPackages. Visual Studio uses
COM
Com or COM may refer to:
Computing
* COM (hardware interface), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers
* COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS
* .com, an Internet top-level d ...
to access the VSPackages. The Visual Studio
SDK also includes the ''Managed Package Framework'' (''MPF''), which is a set of
managed wrappers around the COM-interfaces that allow the Packages to be written in any
CLI compliant language. However, MPF does not provide all the functionality exposed by the Visual Studio COM interfaces.
The services can then be consumed for creation of other packages, which add functionality to the Visual Studio IDE.
Support for programming languages is added by using a specific VSPackage called a ''Language Service''. A language service defines various interfaces which the VSPackage implementation can implement to add support for various functionalities.
Functionalities that can be added this way include syntax coloring, statement completion, brace matching, parameter information tooltips, member lists, and error markers for background compilation.
If the interface is implemented, the functionality will be available for the language. Language services are implemented on a per-language basis. The implementations can reuse code from the parser or the compiler for the language.
Language services can be implemented either in
native code or
managed code. For native code, either the native COM interfaces or the Babel Framework (part of Visual Studio SDK) can be used. For managed code, the MPF includes wrappers for writing managed language services.
Visual Studio does not include any
source control
In software engineering, version control (also known as revision control, source control, or source code management) is a class of systems responsible for managing changes to computer programs, documents, large web sites, or other collections o ...
support built in but it defines two alternative ways for source control systems to integrate with the IDE.
A Source Control VSPackage can provide its own customised user interface. In contrast, a source control plugin using the ''MSSCCI'' (Microsoft Source Code Control Interface) provides a set of functions that are used to implement various source control functionality, with a standard Visual Studio user interface.
MSSCCI was first used to integrate
Visual SourceSafe
Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (VSS) is a discontinued source control program oriented towards small software development projects. Like most source control systems, SourceSafe creates a ''virtual library'' of computer files. While most commonly used ...
with Visual Studio 6.0 but was later opened up via the Visual Studio SDK. Visual Studio .NET 2002 used MSSCCI 1.1, and Visual Studio .NET 2003 used MSSCCI 1.2. Visual Studio 2005, 2008, and 2010 use MSSCCI Version 1.3, which adds support for rename and delete propagation, as well as asynchronous opening.
Visual Studio supports running multiple instances of the environment (each with its own set of VSPackages). The instances use different
registry hives (see
MSDN'
definitionof the term "registry hive" in the sense used here) to store their configuration state and are differentiated by their AppId (Application ID). The instances are launched by an AppId-specific .exe that selects the AppId, sets the root hive, and launches the IDE. VSPackages registered for one AppId are integrated with other VSPackages for that AppId. The various product editions of Visual Studio are created using the different AppIds. The
Visual Studio Express
Microsoft Visual Studio Express is a set of integrated development environments (IDEs) that Microsoft developed and released free of charge. They are function-limited version of the non-free Visual Studio and require mandatory registration. Exp ...
edition products are installed with their own AppIds, but the Standard, Professional, and
Team Suite products share the same AppId. Consequently, one can install the Express editions side-by-side with other editions, unlike the other editions which update the same installation. The professional edition includes a superset of the VSPackages in the standard edition, and the team suite includes a superset of the VSPackages in both other editions. The AppId system is leveraged by the
Visual Studio Shell in Visual Studio 2008.
Features
Code editor
Visual Studio includes a
code editor that supports
syntax highlighting and
code completion using
IntelliSense for
variables,
functions,
methods,
loops, and
LINQ queries.
IntelliSense is supported for the included languages, as well as for
XML,
Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...
, and
JavaScript when developing web sites and
web applications.
Autocomplete suggestions appear in a
modeless list box over the code editor window, in proximity of the editing
cursor. In Visual Studio 2008 onwards, it can be made temporarily semi-transparent to see the code obstructed by it.
The code editor is used for all supported languages.
The Visual Studio Code Editor also supports setting bookmarks in code for quick navigation. Other navigational aids include
collapsing code blocks and
incremental search, in addition to normal text search and
regex
A regular expression (shortened as regex or regexp; sometimes referred to as rational expression) is a sequence of characters that specifies a search pattern in text. Usually such patterns are used by string-searching algorithms for "find" or ...
search.
The code editor also includes a multi-item
clipboard and a task list.
The code editor supports code snippets, which are saved templates for repetitive code and can be inserted into code and customized for the project being worked on. A management tool for code snippets is built in as well. These tools are surfaced as floating windows which can be set to automatically hide when unused or docked to the side of the screen. The Visual Studio code editor also supports
code refactoring including parameter reordering, variable and method renaming,
interface extraction, and encapsulation of class members inside properties, among others. An online version of Visual Studio Code is available a
Visual Studio Code
Debugger
Visual Studio includes a
debugger that works both as a source-level debugger and as a machine-level debugger. It works with both
managed code as well as
native code and can be used for debugging applications written in any language supported by Visual Studio. In addition, it can also attach to running processes, monitor, and debug those processes. If source code for the running process is available, it displays the code as it is being run. If source code is not available, it can show the
disassembly. The Visual Studio debugger can also create
memory dumps as well as load them later for debugging. Multi-threaded programs are also supported. The debugger can be configured to be launched when an application running outside the Visual Studio environment crashes.
The Visual Studio Debugger allows setting
breakpoints (which allow execution to be stopped temporarily at a certain position) and watches (which monitor the values of variables as the execution progresses). Breakpoints can be conditional, meaning they get triggered when the condition is met. Code can be
stepped over, i.e., run one line (of source code) at a time.
It can either ''step into'' functions to debug inside it, or ''step over'' it, i.e., the execution of the function body isn't available for manual inspection.
The debugger supports ''Edit and Continue'', i.e., it allows code to be edited as it is being debugged. When debugging, if the mouse pointer hovers over any variable, its current value is displayed in a tooltip ("data tooltips"), where it can also be modified if desired. During coding, the Visual Studio debugger lets certain functions be invoked manually from the
Immediate
tool window. The parameters to the method are supplied at the Immediate window.
Designer
Visual Studio includes a host of visual designers to aid in the development of applications. These tools include:
;Windows Forms Designer: The Windows Forms designer is used to build
GUI applications using
Windows Forms. Layout can be controlled by housing the controls inside other containers or locking them to the side of the form. Controls that display data (like textbox, list box and grid view) can be
bound to data sources like
databases or
queries. Data-bound controls can be created by dragging items from the Data Sources window onto a design surface. The UI is linked with code using an
event-driven programming model. The designer generates either
C# or
VB.NET code for the application.
;WPF Designer: The WPF designer, codenamed ''Cider'', was introduced with Visual Studio 2008. Like the Windows Forms designer it supports the drag and drop metaphor. It is used to author
user interfaces targeting
Windows Presentation Foundation. It supports all WPF functionality including
data binding and
automatic layout
Automatic layout is an option in graph drawing toolkits that allow to lay out the Graph (discrete mathematics), Graph according to specific rules, such as:
*reducing the length of the arcs between the Graph vertex (graph theory), vertices
*red ...
management. It generates
XAML code for the UI. The generated
XAML file is compatible with
Microsoft Expression Design, the designer-oriented product. The XAML code is linked with code using a
code-behind model.
;Web designer/development: Visual Studio also includes a web-site editor and designer that allows web pages to be authored by dragging and dropping widgets. It is used for developing
ASP.NET applications and supports
HTML,
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...
and
JavaScript. It uses a
code-behind model to link with ASP.NET code. From Visual Studio 2008 onwards, the layout engine used by the web designer is shared with the discontinued
Expression Web. There is also
ASP.NET MVC support for
MVC technology as a separate download and
ASP.NET Dynamic Data project available from Microsoft.
;Class designer: The Class Designer is used to author and edit the classes (including its members and their access) using
UML
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a general-purpose, developmental modeling language in the field of software engineering that is intended to provide a standard way to visualize the design of a system.
The creation of UML was originally ...
modeling. The Class Designer can generate
C# and
VB.NET code outlines for the classes and methods. It can also generate class diagrams from hand-written classes.
;Data designer: The data designer can be used to graphically edit
database schema
The database schema is the structure of a database described in a formal language supported by the database management system (DBMS). The term "schema" refers to the organization of data as a blueprint of how the database is constructed (divide ...
s, including typed tables, primary and foreign keys and constraints. It can also be used to design queries from the graphical view.
;Mapping designer: From Visual Studio 2008 onwards, the mapping designer is used by
LINQ to SQL to design the
mapping between
database schema
The database schema is the structure of a database described in a formal language supported by the database management system (DBMS). The term "schema" refers to the organization of data as a blueprint of how the database is constructed (divide ...
s and the
classes that encapsulate the data. The new solution from ORM approach,
ADO.NET Entity Framework
Entity Framework (EF) is an open source object–relational mapping (ORM) framework for ADO.NET. It was originally shipped as an integral part of .NET Framework, however starting with Entity Framework version 6.0 it has been delivered separately ...
, replaces and improves the old technology.
Other tools
;Open Tabs Browser: The open tabs browser is used to list all open tabs and to switch between them. It is invoked using
CTRL+TAB
.
;Properties Editor: The ''Properties Editor'' tool is used to edit properties in a GUI pane inside Visual Studio. It lists all available properties (both read-only and those which can be set) for all objects including
classes, forms, web pages and other items.
;Object Browser: The ''Object Browser'' is a
namespace and
class library browser for
Microsoft .NET. It can be used to browse the namespaces (which are arranged hierarchically) in
managed assemblies. The hierarchy may or may not reflect the organization in the file system.
;Solution Explorer: In Visual Studio parlance, a solution is a set of code files and other resources that are used to build an application. The files in a solution are arranged hierarchically, which might or might not reflect the organization in the file system. The ''Solution Explorer'' is used to manage and browse the files in a solution.
;Team Explorer: ''Team Explorer'' is used to integrate the capabilities of Azure DevOps (either
Azure DevOps Services
Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platforms such a ...
or
Azure DevOps Server) into the IDE . In addition to version control integration it provides the ability to view and manage individual work items (including user stories, bugs, tasks and other documents). It is included as part of a Visual Studio installation and is also available as a standalone download.
;Data Explorer: ''Data Explorer'' is used to manage databases on
Microsoft SQL Server instances. It allows creation and alteration of database tables (either by issuing
T-SQL commands or by using the Data designer). It can also be used to create
queries and
stored procedure
A stored procedure (also termed proc, storp, sproc, StoPro, StoredProc, StoreProc, sp, or SP) is a subroutine available to applications that access a relational database management system (RDBMS). Such procedures are stored in the database data dic ...
s, with the latter in either
T-SQL or in
managed code via
SQL CLR
SQL CLR or SQLCLR ( SQL Common Language Runtime) is technology for hosting of the Microsoft .NET common language runtime engine within SQL Server. The SQLCLR allows managed code to be hosted by, and run in, the Microsoft SQL Server environment.
T ...
. Debugging and
IntelliSense support is available as well.
;Server Explorer: The ''Server Explorer'' tool is used to manage database connections on an accessible computer. It is also used to browse running
Windows Services, performance counters,
Windows Event Log
Event Viewer is a component of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system that lets administrators and users view the event logs on a local or remote machine. Applications and operating-system components can use this centralized log service to repo ...
and
message queues and use them as a datasource.
;Dotfuscator Community Edition: Visual Studio includes a free 'light' version of
Dotfuscator
;Text Generation Framework: Visual Studio includes a full text generation framework called
T4 which enables Visual Studio to generate text files from templates either in the IDE or via code.
;ASP.NET Web Site Administration Tool: The
ASP.NET Web Site Administration Tool allows for the configuration of
ASP.NET websites.
;Visual Studio Tools for Office:
Visual Studio Tools for Office is a SDK and an add-in for Visual Studio that includes tools for developing for the
Microsoft Office suite. Previously (for Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Visual Studio 2005) it was a separate SKU that supported only
Visual C# and
Visual Basic languages or was included in the Team Suite. With Visual Studio 2008, it is no longer a separate SKU but is included with Professional and higher editions. A separate runtime is required when deploying VSTO solutions.
Testing Tools
Microsoft Visual Studio can write high-quality code with comprehensive testing tools to aid in the development of applications. These tools include:
Unit testing, IntelliTset, Live Unit Testing, Test Explorer, CodeLens test indicators, Code coverage analysis, Fakes.
Extensibility
Visual Studio allows developers to write extensions for Visual Studio to extend its capabilities. These extensions "plug into" Visual Studio and extend its functionality. Extensions come in the form of ''macros'',
''add-ins'', and ''packages''. Macros represent repeatable tasks and actions that developers can record programmatically for saving, replaying, and distributing. Macros, however, cannot implement new commands or create tool windows. They are written using
Visual Basic and are not compiled.
Add-Ins provide access to the Visual Studio object model and can interact with the IDE tools. Add-Ins can be used to implement new functionality and can add new tool windows. Add-Ins are plugged into the IDE via
COM
Com or COM may refer to:
Computing
* COM (hardware interface), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers
* COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS
* .com, an Internet top-level d ...
and can be created in any COM-compliant languages.
Packages are created using the Visual Studio
SDK and provide the highest level of extensibility. They can create designers and other tools, as well as integrate other programming languages. The Visual Studio SDK provides unmanaged
APIs as well as a managed API to accomplish these tasks. However, the managed API isn't as comprehensive as the unmanaged one.
Extensions are supported in the Standard (and higher) versions of Visual Studio 2005.
Express Editions do not support hosting extensions.
Visual Studio 2008 introduced the Visual Studio Shell that allows for development of a customized version of the IDE. The Visual Studio Shell defines a set of VSPackages that provide the functionality required in any IDE. On top of that, other packages can be added to customize the installation. The Isolated mode of the shell creates a new AppId where the packages are installed. These are to be started with a different executable. It is aimed for development of custom development environments, either for a specific language or a specific scenario. The Integrated mode installs the packages into the AppId of the Professional/Standard/Team System editions, so that the tools integrate into these editions.
The Visual Studio Shell is available as a free download.
After the release of Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft created the Visual Studio Gallery. It serves as the central location for posting information about extensions to Visual Studio. Community developers as well as commercial developers can upload information about their extensions to Visual Studio .NET 2002 through Visual Studio 2010. Users of the site can rate and review the extensions to help assess the quality of extensions being posted. An extension is stored in a VSIX file. Internally a VSIX file is a ZIP file that contains some XML files, and possibly one or more DLL's. One of the main advantages of these extensions is that they do not require Administrator rights to be installed. RSS feeds to notify users on updates to the site and tagging features are also planned.
Supported products
;
Microsoft Visual C++:Microsoft Visual C++ is Microsoft's partial implementation of the
C and full implementation
C++ compiler and associated languages-services and specific tools for integration with the Visual Studio IDE. It can compile either in C mode or C++ mode. For C++, as of version 15.7 it conforms to
C++17
C++17 is a version of the ISO/IEC 14882 standard for the C++ programming language. C++17 replaced the prior version of the C++ standard, called C++14, and was later replaced by C++20.
History
Before the C++ Standards Committee fixed a 3-year rel ...
.
The C implementation of Visual Studio 2015 still doesn't support the full standard; in particular, the complex number header
complex.h
C mathematical operations are a group of functions in the standard library of the C programming language implementing basic mathematical functions. All functions use floating-point numbers in one manner or another. Different C standards provid ...
introduced in C99 is unsupported.
:Visual C++ supports the
C++/CLI specification to write
managed code, as well as mixed-mode code (a mix of
native and
managed code). Microsoft positions Visual C++ for development in native code or in code that contains both native as well as managed components. Visual C++ supports
COM
Com or COM may refer to:
Computing
* COM (hardware interface), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers
* COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS
* .com, an Internet top-level d ...
as well as the
MFC library. For MFC development, it provides a set of wizards for creating and customizing MFC
boilerplate code
In computer programming, boilerplate code, or simply boilerplate, are sections of code that are repeated in multiple places with little to no variation. When using languages that are considered ''verbose'', the programmer must write a lot of boile ...
, and creating GUI applications using MFC. Visual C++ can also use the Visual Studio forms designer to design UI graphically. Visual C++ can also be used with the
Windows API. It also supports the use of ''intrinsic functions'', which are functions recognized by the compiler itself and not implemented as a library. Intrinsic functions are used to expose the
SSE instruction set of modern CPUs. Visual C++ also includes the
OpenMP (version 2.0) specification.
;
Microsoft Visual C#: Microsoft Visual C#, Microsoft's implementation of the
C# language, targets the .NET Framework, along with the language services that lets the Visual Studio IDE support C# projects. While the language services are a part of Visual Studio, the compiler is available separately as a part of the .NET Framework. The Visual C# 2008, 2010 and 2012 compilers support versions 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 of the C# language specifications, respectively. Visual C# supports the Visual Studio Class designer, Forms designer, and Data designer among others.
;
Microsoft Visual Basic: Microsoft Visual Basic is Microsoft's implementation of the
VB.NET language and associated tools and language services. It was introduced with Visual Studio .NET (2002). Microsoft has positioned Visual Basic for
Rapid Application Development. Visual Basic can be used to author both console applications as well as GUI applications. Like Visual C#, Visual Basic also supports the Visual Studio Class designer, Forms designer, and Data designer among others. Like C#, the VB.NET compiler is also available as a part of .NET Framework, but the language services that let VB.NET projects be developed with Visual Studio, are available as a part of the latter.
;Microsoft Visual Web Developer: Microsoft Visual Web Developer is used to create web sites,
web applications and
web services using ASP.NET. Either
C# or
VB.NET languages can be used. Visual Web Developer can use the Visual Studio Web Designer to graphically design web page layouts.
;
Azure DevOps:Azure DevOps is intended for collaborative
software development
Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development invol ...
projects and provides
version control, work planning and tracking, data collection, and
reporting. It also includes the ''Team Explorer'' which is integrated inside Visual Studio. On September 10, 2018, Microsoft announced a rebranding of Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) to
Azure DevOps Services
Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platforms such a ...
and Team Foundation Server (TFS) to
Azure DevOps Server.
Previous products
;
Visual FoxPro: Visual FoxPro is a data-centric
object-oriented and
procedural
Procedural may refer to:
* Procedural generation, a term used in computer graphics applications
*Procedural knowledge, the knowledge exercised in the performance of some task
* Procedural law, a legal concept
*Procedural memory, a cognitive scienc ...
programming language produced by
Microsoft. It derives from
FoxPro (originally known as FoxBASE) which was developed by Fox Software beginning in 1984. Visual FoxPro is tightly integrated with its own relational database engine, which extends FoxPro's xBase capabilities to support
SQL queries and data manipulation. Visual FoxPro is a full-featured,
dynamic programming language that does not require the use of an additional general-purpose programming environment. In 2007, Visual FoxPro was discontinued after version 9 Service Pack 2. It was supported until 2015.
;
Visual SourceSafe
Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (VSS) is a discontinued source control program oriented towards small software development projects. Like most source control systems, SourceSafe creates a ''virtual library'' of computer files. While most commonly used ...
: Microsoft Visual SourceSafe is a
source control
In software engineering, version control (also known as revision control, source control, or source code management) is a class of systems responsible for managing changes to computer programs, documents, large web sites, or other collections o ...
software package oriented towards small software-development projects. The SourceSafe database is a multi-user, multi-process file-system database, using the Windows file system database primitives to provide locking and sharing support. All versions are multi-user, using
SMB (file server) networking. However, with Visual SourceSafe 2005, other
client–server modes were added, Lan Booster and VSS Internet (which used
HTTP/
HTTPS). Visual SourceSafe 6.0 was available as a stand-alone product and was included with Visual Studio 6.0, and other products such as Office Developer Edition. Visual SourceSafe 2005 was available as a stand-alone product and included with the 2005 Team Suite.
Azure DevOps has superseded VSS as Microsoft's recommended platform for
source control
In software engineering, version control (also known as revision control, source control, or source code management) is a class of systems responsible for managing changes to computer programs, documents, large web sites, or other collections o ...
.
;
Microsoft Visual J++/
Microsoft Visual J#: Microsoft Visual J++ was
Microsoft's implementation of the
Java language (with Microsoft-specific extensions) and associated language services. It was discontinued as a result of
litigation
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
from
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
, and the technology was recycled into Visual J#, Microsoft's Java compiler for .NET Framework. J# was available with Visual Studio 2005 (supported until 2015) but was discontinued in Visual Studio 2008.
;
Visual InterDev: Visual InterDev was used to create web applications using Microsoft
Active Server Pages (ASP) technologies. It supports code completion and includes
database server management tools. It has been replaced with Microsoft Visual Web Developer.
Editions
Microsoft Visual Studio is available in the following editions or
SKUs:
Community
The Community edition was announced on November 12, 2014, as a new free version, with similar functionality to Visual Studio Professional. Prior to this date, the only free editions of Visual Studio were the feature-limited Express variants. Unlike the
Express variants, Visual Studio Community supports multiple languages, and provides support for extensions. Individual developers have no restrictions on their use of the Community edition. The following uses also allow unlimited usage: contributing to Open Source projects, academic research, in a classroom learning environment and for developing and testing device drivers for the Windows operating system. All other use by an organization depends on its classification as an Enterprise (more than 250 employees or more than 1 million
USD in annual revenue, per Microsoft).
Non-Enterprises may use up to 5 copies without restriction, user number 6 and higher require a commercial license; Enterprise organizations require a commercial license for use outside of the noted exceptions.
Visual Studio Community is oriented towards individual developers and small teams.
Professional
As of Visual Studio 2010, the Professional edition is the entry level
commercial edition of Visual Studio. (Previously, a more feature restricted Standard edition was available.)
It provides an IDE for all supported development languages.
MSDN support is available as MSDN Essentials or the full
MSDN library depending on licensing. It supports
XML and
XSLT
XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is a language originally designed for transforming XML documents into other XML documents, or other formats such as HTML for web pages, plain text or XSL Formatting Objects, which may subseque ...
editing, and can create deployment packages that only use
ClickOnce and
MSI. It includes tools like Server Explorer and integration with
Microsoft SQL Server also. Windows Mobile development support was included in Visual Studio 2005 Standard, however, with Visual Studio 2008, it is only available in Professional and higher editions. Windows Phone 7 development support was added to all editions in Visual Studio 2010. Development for
Windows Mobile is no longer supported in Visual Studio 2010. It is superseded by
Windows Phone 7.
Enterprise
In addition to the features provided by the Professional edition, the Enterprise edition provides a new set of software development, database development, collaboration, metrics, architecture, testing and reporting tools.
History
The first version of Visual Studio was Visual Studio 97. Before that, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual FoxPro and Visual SourceSafe were sold as separate products.
97
Microsoft first released Visual Studio (codenamed ''Boston'',
for the
city of the same name, thus beginning the VS codenames related to places)
in 1997, bundling many of its programming tools together for the first time. Visual Studio 97 came in two editions: Visual Studio Professional and Visual Studio Enterprise, the professional edition has three CDs, and the enterprise four CDs. It included Visual J++ 1.1 for Java programming and introduced Visual InterDev for creating dynamically generated web sites using Active Server Pages. There was a single companion CD that contained the
Microsoft Developer Network library.
Visual Studio 97 was an attempt at using the same development environment for multiple languages. Visual J++, InterDev, and the
MSDN Library had all been using the same 'environment', called Developer Studio.
Visual Studio was also sold as a bundle with the separate IDEs used for Visual C++, Visual Basic and Visual FoxPro.
6.0 (1998)
The next version, version 6.0 (codenamed ''Aspen'', after the
ski resort in Colorado), was released in June 1998 and is the last version to run on the
Windows 9x platform. Each version of each language in part also settled to v6.0, including Visual J++ which was prior v1.1, and Visual InterDev at the first release. The v6 edition of Microsoft was the core environment for the next four releases to provide programmers with an integrated look-alike platform. This led Microsoft to transition the development on the platform independent
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
.
Visual Studio 6.0 was the last version to include Visual J++, which Microsoft removed as part of a settlement with
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
that required Microsoft Internet Explorer not to provide support for the
Java Virtual Machine
A Java virtual machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally describes ...
.
Visual Studio 6.0 came in two editions: Professional and Enterprise. The Enterprise edition contained extra features not found in Professional edition, including:
* Application Performance Explorer
* Automation Manager
* Microsoft Visual Modeler
* RemAuto Connection Manager
* Visual Studio Analyzer
Visual Studio was also sold as a bundle with the separate IDEs used for Visual C++, Visual Basic and Visual FoxPro.
.NET 2002
Microsoft released Visual Studio .NET (VS.NET), codenamed ''Rainier'' (for
Washington's Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...
), in February 2002 (the
beta version was released via
Microsoft Developer Network in 2001). The biggest change was the introduction of a
managed code development environment using the .NET Framework. Programs developed using .NET are not compiled to
machine language (like C++ is, for example) but instead to a format called
Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) or
Common Intermediate Language (CIL). When a CIL application executes, it is
compiled while being executed into the appropriate machine language for the platform it is being executed on, thereby making code portable across several platforms. Programs compiled into CIL can be executed only on platforms which have an implementation of
Common Language Infrastructure
The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an open specification and technical standard originally developed by Microsoft and standardized by ISO/IEC (ISO/IEC 23271) and Ecma International (ECMA 335) that describes executable code and a runt ...
. It is possible to run CIL programs in
Linux or
Mac OS X using non-Microsoft .NET implementations like
Mono and
DotGNU.
This was the first version of Visual Studio to require an
NT-based Windows platform. The installer enforces this requirement.
Visual Studio .NET 2002 shipped in four editions: Academic, Professional, Enterprise Developer, and Enterprise Architect. Microsoft introduced
C# (C-sharp), a new programming language, that targets .NET. It also introduced the successor to Visual J++ called Visual J#. Visual J# programs use Java's language-syntax. However, unlike Visual J++ programs, Visual J# programs can only target the .NET Framework, not the
Java Virtual Machine
A Java virtual machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally describes ...
that all other Java tools target.
Visual Basic changed drastically to fit the new framework, and the new version was called Visual Basic .NET. Microsoft also added extensions to C++, called
Managed Extensions for C++
Managed Extensions for C++ or Managed C++ is a now-deprecated set of language extensions for C++, including grammatical and syntactic extensions, keywords and attributes, to bring the C++ syntax and language to the .NET Framework. These extensions ...
, so .NET programs could be created in C++.
Visual Studio .NET can produce applications targeting Windows (using the Windows Forms part of the .NET Framework), the Web (using ASP.NET and
Web Services) and, with an add-in, portable devices (using the .NET Compact Framework).
The internal version number of Visual Studio .NET 2002 is version 7.0. Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio .NET 2002 in March 2005.
.NET 2003
In April 2003, Microsoft introduced a minor upgrade to Visual Studio .NET called Visual Studio .NET 2003, codenamed ''Everett'' (for the
city of the same name). It includes an upgrade to the .NET Framework, version 1.1, and is the first release to support developing programs for mobile devices, using ASP.NET or the .NET Compact Framework. The Visual C++ compiler's standards-compliance improved, especially in the area of
partial template specialization. Visual C++ Toolkit 2003 is a version of the same C++ compiler shipped with Visual Studio .NET 2003 without the IDE that Microsoft made freely available. it is no longer available and the Express Editions have superseded it. Visual Studio .NET 2003 also supports Managed C++, which is the predecessor of C++/CLI. The internal version number of Visual Studio .NET 2003 is version 7.1 while the file format version is 8.0.
Visual Studio .NET 2003 is the last version to support
Windows NT 4.0 SP6a,
Windows 2000 versions below SP3 and
Windows XP before SP2.
Visual Studio .NET 2003 shipped in five editions: Academic, Standard, Professional, Enterprise Developer, and Enterprise Architect. The Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect edition includes an implementation of
Microsoft Visio 2002's modeling technologies, including tools for creating
Unified Modeling Language-based visual representations of an application's architecture, and an
object-role modeling (ORM) and logical database-modeling solution. "Enterprise Templates" were also introduced, to help larger development teams standardize coding styles and enforce policies around component usage and property settings.
Service Pack 1 was released September 13, 2006.
2005
Visual Studio 2005, codenamed ''Whidbey'' (a reference to
Whidbey Island in
Puget Sound region), was released online in October 2005 and to retail stores a few weeks later. Microsoft removed the ".NET" moniker from Visual Studio 2005 (as well as every other product with .NET in its name), but it still primarily targets the .NET Framework, which was upgraded to version 2.0. It is the last version to support
Windows Server 2003 below SP1, and thus the last version able to target
Windows 98,
Windows 2000 and
Windows Me for C++ applications.
Visual Studio 2005's internal version number is 8.0 while the file format version is 9.0.
Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2005 on December 14, 2006. An additional update for Service Pack 1 that offers Windows Vista compatibility was made available on June 3, 2007.
Visual Studio 2005 was upgraded to support all the new features introduced in .NET Framework 2.0, including generics and ASP.NET 2.0. The
IntelliSense feature in Visual Studio was upgraded for generics and new project types were added to support ASP.NET web services. Visual Studio 2005 additionally introduces support for a new task-based build platform called Microsoft Build Engine (
MSBuild) which employs a new XML-based project file format. Visual Studio 2005 also includes a local web server, separate from
IIS, that can host ASP.NET applications during development and testing. It also supports all
SQL Server 2005 databases. Database designers were upgraded to support the
ADO.NET 2.0, which is included with .NET Framework 2.0. C++ also got a similar upgrade with the addition of
C++/CLI which is slated to replace the use of
Managed C++. Other new features of Visual Studio 2005 include the "Deployment Designer" which allows application designs to be validated before deployments, an improved environment for web publishing when combined with ASP.NET 2.0 and load testing to see application performance under various sorts of user loads. Starting with the 2005 edition, Visual Studio also added extensive 64-bit support. While the host development environment itself is only available as a 32-bit application, Visual C++ 2005 supports compiling for
x86-64 (AMD64 and Intel 64) as well as
IA-64 (
Itanium). The
Platform SDK included 64-bit compilers and 64-bit versions of the libraries.
Microsoft also announced
Visual Studio Tools for Applications as the successor to
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and VSA (Visual Studio for Applications). VSTA 1.0 was released to manufacturing along with
Office 2007. It is included with Office 2007 and is also part of the Visual Studio 2005 SDK. VSTA consists of a customized IDE, based on the Visual Studio 2005 IDE, and a runtime that can be embedded in applications to expose its features via the .NET object model. Office 2007 applications continue to integrate with VBA, except for InfoPath 2007 which integrates with VSTA. Version 2.0 of VSTA (based on Visual Studio 2008) was released in April 2008. It is significantly different from the first version, including features such as dynamic programming and support for
WPF,
WCF,
WF,
LINQ, and .NET 3.5 Framework.
2008
Visual Studio 2008, and Visual Studio Team System 2008 codenamed ''Orcas'' (a reference to
Orcas Island, also an island in
Puget Sound region, like Whidbey for the previous 2005 release), were released to MSDN subscribers on November 19, 2007, alongside .NET Framework 3.5. The source code for the Visual Studio 2008 IDE is available under a
shared source license to some of
Microsoft's partners and
ISVs.
Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2008 on August 11, 2008. The internal version number of Visual Studio 2008 is version 9.0 while the file format version is 10.0. Visual Studio 2008 is the last version able to target
Windows XP SP2
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was release to manufacturing, released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Wind ...
,
Windows Server 2003 SP1
Windows Server 2003 is the sixth version of Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows NT family of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on March 28, 2003 and generally available on April 24, 2 ...
and
Windows Vista RTM for C++ applications.
Visual Studio 2008 is focused on development of
Windows Vista, 2007 Office system, and Web applications. For visual design, a new
Windows Presentation Foundation visual designer and a new
HTML/
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...
editor influenced by
Microsoft Expression Web are included.
J# is not included. Visual Studio 2008 requires .NET 3.5 Framework and by default configures compiled assemblies to run on .NET Framework 3.5, but it also supports multi-targeting which lets the developers choose which version of the .NET Framework (out of 2.0, 3.0, 3.5,
Silverlight CoreCLR or .NET Compact Framework) the assembly runs on. Visual Studio 2008 also includes new
code analysis tools, including the new
Code Metrics
In software engineering and development, a software metric is a standard of measure of a degree to which a software system or process possesses some property. Even if a metric is not a measurement (metrics are functions, while measurements are t ...
tool (only in Team Edition and Team Suite Edition). For
Visual C++, Visual Studio adds a new version of
Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC 9.0) that adds support for the visual styles and UI controls introduced with
Windows Vista. For native and managed code interoperability, Visual C++ introduces the STL/CLR, which is a port of the
C++ Standard Template Library (STL) containers and algorithms to
managed code. STL/CLR defines STL-like containers,
iterators and algorithms that work on
C++/CLI managed objects.
Visual Studio 2008 features include an
XAML-based designer (codenamed ''Cider''),
workflow designer,
LINQ to
SQL designer (for defining the type mappings and object encapsulation for SQL Server data),
XSLT
XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is a language originally designed for transforming XML documents into other XML documents, or other formats such as HTML for web pages, plain text or XSL Formatting Objects, which may subseque ...
debugger,
JavaScript Intellisense support, JavaScript Debugging support, support for
UAC UAC may refer to:
Computing
* User Account Control, a security feature in Microsoft Windows
* Session Initiation Protocol#User agent client
Organizations
* Ulster Army Council, 1973 Northern Ireland loyalist paramilitary group
* Undeb Amaet ...
manifests, a
concurrent build system, among others. It ships with an enhanced set of UI widgets, both for
Windows Forms and
WPF. It also includes a multithreaded build engine (
MSBuild) to compile multiple source files (and build the executable file) in a project across multiple
threads
Thread may refer to:
Objects
* Thread (yarn), a kind of thin yarn used for sewing
** Thread (unit of measurement), a cotton yarn measure
* Screw thread, a helical ridge on a cylindrical fastener
Arts and entertainment
* ''Thread'' (film), 2016 ...
simultaneously. It also includes support for compiling
icon resources in
PNG format, introduced in Windows Vista. An updated
XML Schema designer was released separately some time after the release of Visual Studio 2008.
Visual Studio Debugger includes features targeting easier debugging of multi-threaded applications. In debugging mode, in the ''Threads'' window, which lists all the threads, hovering over a thread displays the
stack trace
In computing, a stack trace (also called stack backtrace or stack traceback) is a report of the active stack frames at a certain point in time during the execution of a program. When a program is run, memory is often dynamically allocated in two p ...
of that thread in tooltips. The threads can directly be named and flagged for easier identification from that window itself.
In addition, in the code window, along with indicating the location of the currently executing instruction in the current thread, the currently executing instructions in other threads are also pointed out.
The Visual Studio debugger supports integrated debugging of the .NET 3.5 Framework
Base Class Library (BCL) which can dynamically download the BCL source code and
debug symbol
A debug symbol is a special kind of symbol that attaches additional information to the symbol table of an object file, such as a shared library or an executable. This information allows a symbolic debugger to gain access to information from the ...
s and allow stepping into the BCL source during debugging. a limited subset of the BCL source is available, with more library support planned for later.
2010
On April 12, 2010, Microsoft released Visual Studio 2010, codenamed ''Dev10'',
and
.NET Framework 4
Microsoft started development on the .NET Framework in the late 1990s originally under the name of Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS). By late 2001 the first beta versions of .NET 1.0 were released. The first version of .NET Framework was ...
. It is the last version to support
Windows XP SP3
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was release to manufacturing, released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Wind ...
,
Windows Server 2003 SP2,
Windows Vista SP1,
Windows Server 2008 below SP2,
Windows 7 before SP1 and
Windows Server 2008 R2 before SP1.
The Visual Studio 2010
IDE was redesigned which, according to
Microsoft, clears the UI organization and "reduces clutter and complexity."
The new IDE better supports multiple document windows and floating tool windows,
while offering better multi-monitor support. The IDE shell has been rewritten using the
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), whereas the internals have been redesigned using Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) that offers more extensibility points than previous versions of the IDE that enabled add-ins to modify the behavior of the IDE.
The new
multi-paradigm
Programming paradigms are a way to classify programming languages based on their features. Languages can be classified into multiple paradigms.
Some paradigms are concerned mainly with implications for the execution model of the language, suc ...
ML-variant
F# forms part of Visual Studio 2010.
Visual Studio 2010 comes with
.NET Framework 4
Microsoft started development on the .NET Framework in the late 1990s originally under the name of Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS). By late 2001 the first beta versions of .NET 1.0 were released. The first version of .NET Framework was ...
and supports developing applications targeting
Windows 7.
It supports
IBM Db2
Db2 is a family of data management products, including database servers, developed by IBM. It initially supported the relational model, but was extended to support object–relational features and non-relational structures like JSON a ...
and
Oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
databases, in addition to
Microsoft SQL Server.
It has integrated support for developing
Microsoft Silverlight applications, including an interactive designer.
Visual Studio 2010 offers several tools to make
parallel programming simpler: in addition to the
Parallel Extensions for the .NET Framework and the
Parallel Patterns Library The Parallel Patterns Library is a Microsoft library designed for use by native C++ developers that provides features for multicore programming. It was first bundled with Visual Studio 2010. It resembles the C++ Standard Library in style and works ...
for
native code, Visual Studio 2010 includes tools for debugging parallel applications. The new tools allow the visualization of parallel
Tasks and their runtime
stacks. Tools for profiling parallel applications can be used for visualization of thread wait-times and thread migrations across processor cores. Intel and Microsoft have jointly pledged support for a new Concurrency Runtime in Visual Studio 2010
and Intel has launched parallelism support in
Parallel Studio as an add-on for Visual Studio.
The Visual Studio 2010 code editor now highlights references; whenever a symbol is selected, all other usages of the symbol are highlighted.
It also offers a ''Quick Search'' feature to
incrementally search across all symbols in C++, C# and VB.NET projects. Quick Search supports substring matches and
camelCase searches.
The ''Call Hierarchy'' feature allows the developer to see all the methods that are called from a current method as well as the methods that call the current one.
IntelliSense in Visual Studio supports a ''consume-first'' mode which developers can opt into. In this mode, IntelliSense does not auto-complete identifiers; this allows the developer to use undefined identifiers (like variable or method names) and define those later. Visual Studio 2010 can also help in this by automatically defining them, if it can infer their types from usage.
Current versions of Visual Studio have a known bug which makes IntelliSense unusable for projects using pure C (not C++).
Visual Studio 2010 features a new
Help System replacing the
MSDN Library viewer. The Help System is no longer based on
Microsoft Help 2
Microsoft Help 2.x is a proprietary format for online help files, developed by Microsoft and first released in 2001 as a help system for Visual Studio .NET (2002) and MSDN Library.
Microsoft Help 2.x is the help engine used in Microsoft Visual ...
and does not use Microsoft Document Explorer. Dynamic help containing links to help items based on what the developer was doing at the time was removed in the final release, but can be added back using a download from Microsoft.
Visual Studio 2010 no longer supports development for Windows Mobile prior to
Windows Phone 7. Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 was released in March 2011.
Ultimate 2010
Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 replaces Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite. It includes new modeling tools,
such as the ''Architecture Explorer'', which graphically displays projects and classes and the relationships between them.
It supports
UML
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a general-purpose, developmental modeling language in the field of software engineering that is intended to provide a standard way to visualize the design of a system.
The creation of UML was originally ...
activity diagram, component diagram, (logical) class diagram, sequence diagram, and use case diagram.
Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 also includes ''Test Impact Analysis'' which provides hints on which test cases are impacted by modifications to the source code, without actually running the test cases. This speeds up testing by avoiding running unnecessary test cases.
Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 also includes a
historical debugger
A debugger or debugging tool is a computer program used to test and debug other programs (the "target" program). The main use of a debugger is to run the target program under controlled conditions that permit the programmer to track its executi ...
for
managed code called ''IntelliTrace''. Unlike a traditional debugger that records only the currently active stack, IntelliTrace records all events, such as prior function calls, method parameters, events and exceptions. This allows the code execution to be rewound in case a breakpoint was not set where the error occurred. Debugging with IntelliTrace causes the application to run more slowly than debugging without it, and uses more memory as additional data needs to be recorded. Microsoft allows configuration of how much data should be recorded, in effect, allowing developers to balance the speed of execution and resource usage. The ''Lab Management'' component of Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 uses virtualization to create a similar execution environment for testers and developers. The
virtual machines are tagged with checkpoints which can later be investigated for issues, as well as to reproduce the issue. Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 also includes the capability to record test runs that capture the specific state of the operating environment as well as the precise steps used to run the test. These steps can then be played back to reproduce issues.
2012
The final build of Visual Studio 2012 was announced on August 1, 2012, and the official launch event was held on September 12, 2012.
Unlike prior versions, Visual Studio 2012 cannot record and play macros and the macro editor has been removed.
New features include support for
WinRT and
C++/CX C++/CX ''(C++ component extensions)'' is a language projection for Microsoft's Windows Runtime platform. It takes the form of a language extension for C++ compilers, and it enables C++ programmers to write programs that call Windows Runtime (WinRT) ...
(Component Extensions) and
C++ AMP (
GPGPU programming) Semantic Colorization.
On September 16, 2011, a complete 'Developer Preview' of Visual Studio 11 was published on Microsoft's website. Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview requires Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8, or later operating systems. Versions of
Microsoft Foundation Class Library (MFC) and C runtime (CRT) included with this release cannot produce software that is compatible with Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 except by using native multi-targeting and foregoing the newest libraries, compilers, and headers. However, on June 15, 2012, a blog post on the VC++ Team blog announced that based on customer feedback, Microsoft would re-introduce native support for Windows XP targets (though not for XP as a development platform) in a version of Visual C++ to be released later in the fall of 2012. "Visual Studio 2012 Update 1" (Visual Studio 2012.1) was released in November 2012. This update added support for Windows XP targets and also added other new tools and features (e.g. improved diagnostics and testing support for Windows Store apps).
On August 24, 2011, a blog post by Sumit Kumar, a Program Manager on the Visual C++ team, listed some of the features of the upcoming version of the Visual Studio C++ IDE:
* Semantic colorization: Improved syntax coloring, various user-defined or default colors for C++ syntax such as macros, enumerations, typenames and functions.
* Reference highlighting: Selection of a symbol highlights all of the references to that symbol within scope.
* New Solution Explorer: The new Solution Explorer allows for visualization of class and file hierarchies within a solution/project. It can search for calls to functions and uses of classes.
* Automatic display of IntelliSense list: IntelliSense is automatically displayed whilst typing code, as opposed to previous versions where it had to be explicitly invoked through use of certain operators (i.e. the scope operator (::)) or shortcut keys (''Ctrl-Space'' or ''Ctrl-J'').
* Member list filtering: IntelliSense uses
fuzzy logic
Fuzzy logic is a form of many-valued logic in which the truth value of variables may be any real number between 0 and 1. It is employed to handle the concept of partial truth, where the truth value may range between completely true and completely ...
to determine which functions/variables/types to display in the list.
* Code snippets: Code snippets are included in IntelliSense to automatically generate relevant code based on the user's parameters, custom code snippets can be created.
The source code of Visual Studio 2012 consists of approximately 50 million lines of code.
Interface backlash
During Visual Studio 11 beta, Microsoft eliminated the use of color within tools except in cases where color is used for notification or status change purposes. However, the use of color was returned after feedback demanding more contrast, differentiation, clarity and "energy" in the user interface.
In the Visual Studio 2012
release candidate (RC), a major change to the interface is the use of all-caps menu bar, as part of the campaign to keep Visual Studio consistent with the direction of other Microsoft user interfaces, and to provide added structure to the top menu bar area. The redesign was criticized for being hard to read, and going against the trends started by developers to use
CamelCase to make words stand out better. Some speculated that the root cause of the redesign was to incorporate the simplistic look and feel of Metro programs. However, there exists a
Windows Registry option to allow users to disable the all-caps interface.
2013
The preview for Visual Studio 2013 was announced at the Build 2013 conference and made available on June 26, 2013. The Visual Studio 2013 RC (Release Candidate) was made available to developers on MSDN on September 9, 2013.
The final release of Visual Studio 2013 became available for download on October 17, 2013, along with .NET 4.5.1. Visual Studio 2013 officially launched on November 13, 2013, at a virtual launch event keynoted by S. Somasegar and hosted on . "Visual Studio 2013 Update 1" (Visual Studio 2013.1) was released on January 20, 2014.
Visual Studio 2013.1 is a targeted update that addresses some key areas of customer feedback.
"Visual Studio 2013 Update 2" (Visual Studio 2013.2) was released on May 12, 2014.
Visual Studio 2013 Update 3 was released on August 4, 2014. With this update, Visual Studio provides an option to disable the all-caps menus, which was introduced in VS2012.
"Visual Studio 2013 Update 4" (Visual Studio 2013.4) was released on November 12, 2014.
"Visual Studio 2013 Update 5" (Visual Studio 2013.5) was released on July 20, 2015.
2015
Initially referred to as Visual Studio "14", the first
Community Technology Preview (CTP) was released on June 3, 2014 and the
Release Candidate was released on April 29, 2015; Visual Studio 2015 was officially announced as the final name on November 12, 2014.
Visual Studio 2015 RTM was released on July 20, 2015.
Visual Studio 2015 Update 1 was released on November 30, 2015.
Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 was released on March 30, 2016.
Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 was released on June 27, 2016.
Visual Studio 2015 is the last version to support
Windows Vista SP2,
Windows Server 2008 SP2 and
Windows 8.
2017
Initially referred to as Visual Studio "15", it was released on March 7, 2017. The first Preview was released on March 30, 2016. Visual Studio "15" Preview 2 was released May 10, 2016. Visual Studio "15" Preview 3 was released on July 7, 2016. Visual Studio "15" Preview 4 was released on August 22, 2016.
Visual Studio "15" Preview 5 was released on October 5, 2016.
On November 14, 2016, for a brief period of time, Microsoft released a blog post revealing Visual Studio 2017 product name version alongside upcoming features.
On November 16, 2016, "Visual Studio 2017" was announced as the final name, and Visual Studio 2017
RC was released.
On March 7, 2017, Visual Studio 2017 was released for general availability.
On March 14, 2017, first fix was released for Visual Studio 2017 due to failures during installation or opening solutions in the first release.
On April 5, 2017, Visual Studio 2017 15.1 was released and added support for targeting the .NET Framework 4.7.
On May 10, 2017, Visual Studio 2017 15.2 was released and added a new workload, "Data Science and Analytical Applications Workload". An update to fix the dark color theme was released on May 12, 2017.
On August 14, 2017, Visual Studio 2017 15.3 was released and added support for targeting
.NET Core
The domain name net is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from the word ''network'', indicating it was originally intended for organizations involved in networking technologies ...
2.0. An update (15.3.1) was released four days later to address
Git vulnerability with submodulesCVE 2017-1000117.
On October 10, 2017, Visual Studio 15.4 was released.
On December 4, 2017, Visual Studio 15.5 was released. This update contained major performance improvements, new features, as well as bug fixes.
On March 6, 2018, Visual Studio 15.6 was released. It includes updates to unit testing and performance.
On May 7, 2018, Visual Studio 15.7 was released. It included updates across the board including, the installer, editor, debugger among others. Almost all point releases, the latest of which i
15.7.6released August 2, 2018, include security updates. With the release of Visual Studio 2017 15.7, Visual C++ now conforms to the
C++17
C++17 is a version of the ISO/IEC 14882 standard for the C++ programming language. C++17 replaced the prior version of the C++ standard, called C++14, and was later replaced by C++20.
History
Before the C++ Standards Committee fixed a 3-year rel ...
standard.
On September 20, 2018, Visual Studio 15.8.5 was released. Tools for Xamarin now supports Xcode 10.
Visual Studio 2017 offers new features like support for EditorConfig (a coding style enforcement framework),
NGen {{about, Mapuche mythology, other uses, NGEN (disambiguation)
In Mapuche mythology, Ngen or " Ngen-ko " are spirits of nature of the Mapuche beliefs. In Mapudungun, the word ''ngen'' means "owner".
Legend
The Ngen are those that manage, govern an ...
support,
.NET Core
The domain name net is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from the word ''network'', indicating it was originally intended for organizations involved in networking technologies ...
and
Docker toolset (Preview), and
Xamarin 4.3 (Preview).
It also has a
XAML Editor, improved IntelliSense, live unit testing, debugging enhancement and better IDE experience and productivity. Additionally, it is the last version of Visual Studio to support maintaining Windows 10 Mobile projects.
2019
On June 6, 2018, Microsoft announced Visual Studio 2019 (version 16).
On December 4, 2018, Visual Studio 2019 Preview 1 was released.
On January 24, 2019, Visual Studio 2019 Preview 2 was released.
On February 13, 2019, Visual Studio 2019 Preview 3 was released.
On February 27, 2019, Visual Studio 2019 RC was released.
It is generally available (GA) since April 2, 2019 and available for download.
2022
On April 19, 2021, Microsoft announced Visual Studio 2022 (version 17). It is the first version to run as a 64-bit process allowing Visual Studio main process to access more than 4 GB of memory, preventing out-of-memory exceptions which could occur with large projects.
On June 17, 2021, Visual Studio 2022 Preview 1 was released.
On July 14, 2021, Visual Studio 2022 Preview 2 was released.
On August 10, 2021, Visual Studio 2022 Preview 3 was released.
On September 14, 2021, Visual Studio 2022 Preview 4 was released.
On October 12, 2021, Visual Studio 2022 RC and Preview 5 was released while setting November 8, 2021 for its general availability.
It is generally available (GA) since November 8, 2021 and available for download.
Related products
Azure DevOps Services
On November 13, 2013, Microsoft announced the release of a
software as a service offering of Visual Studio on
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure, often referred to as Azure ( , ), is a cloud computing platform operated by Microsoft for application management via around the world-distributed data centers. Microsoft Azure has multiple capabilities such as software as a ...
platform; at the time, Microsoft called it Visual Studio Online. Previously announced as Team Foundation Services, it expanded over the on-premises Team Foundation Server (TFS; now known as
Azure DevOps Server) by making it available on the Internet and implementing a
rolling release model. Customers could use Azure portal to subscribe to Visual Studio Online. Subscribers receive a hosted
Git-compatible
version control system, a load-testing service, a
telemetry service and an in-browser code editor codenamed "Monaco". During the ' developer event on November 18, 2015, Microsoft announced that the service was rebranded as "Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS)". On September 10, 2018, Microsoft announced another rebranding of the service, this time to "Azure DevOps Services".
Microsoft offers Stakeholder, Basic, and Visual Studio subscriber access levels for Azure DevOps Services. The Basic plan is free of charge for up to five users. Users with a Visual Studio subscription can be added to a plan with no additional charge.
Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management
Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is a collection of integrated software development tools developed by Microsoft. These tools currently consist of the IDE (Visual Studio 2015 Community and greater editions), server (Team Foundation Server), and cloud services (Visual Studio Team Services). Visual Studio ALM supports team-based development and collaboration, Agile project management,
DevOps, source control, packaging, continuous development, automated testing, release management, continuous delivery, and reporting tools for apps and services.
In Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, the brand was known as Microsoft Visual Studio Team System (VSTS). In October 2009, the Team System brand was renamed
Visual Studio ALM with the Visual Studio 2010 (codenamed 'Rosario') release.
Visual Studio Team Services debuted as Visual Studio Online in 2013 and was renamed in 2015.
Visual Studio Lab Management
Visual Studio Lab Management is a software development tool developed by
Microsoft for software testers to create and manage virtual environments. Lab Management extends the existing
Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management platform to enable an integrated
Hyper-V based test lab. Since Visual Studio 2012, it is already shipped as a part of it; and, can be set up after Azure DevOps and SCVMM are integrated.
Visual Studio LightSwitch
Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch is an extension and framework specifically tailored for creating line-of-business applications built on existing .NET technologies and Microsoft platforms. The applications produced are architecturally
3-tier: the user interface runs on either
Microsoft Silverlight or
HTML 5 client, or as a SharePoint 2013 app; the logic and data-access tier is built on
WCF Data Services
WCF Data Services (formerly ADO.NET Data Services, codename "Astoria") is a platform for what Microsoft calls ''Data Services''. It is actually a combination of the runtime and a web service through which the services are exposed. It also includ ...
and exposed as an
OData
In computing, Open Data Protocol (OData) is an open protocol that allows the creation and consumption of queryable and interoperable REST APIs in a simple and standard way. Microsoft initiated OData in 2007. Versions 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 are relea ...
feed hosted in ASP.NET; and the primary data storage supports
Microsoft SQL Server Express
Microsoft SQL Server Express is a version of Microsoft's SQL Server relational database management system that is free to download, distribute and use. It comprises a database specifically targeted for embedded and smaller-scale applications. Th ...
,
Microsoft SQL Server and
Microsoft SQL Azure. LightSwitch also supports other data sources including
Microsoft SharePoint, OData and WCF RIA Services.
LightSwitch includes graphical designers for designing entities and entity relationships, entity queries, and UI screens. Business logic may be written in either
Visual Basic or
Visual C#. LightSwitch is included with Visual Studio 2012 Professional and higher. Visual Studio 2015 is the last release of Visual Studio that includes the LightSwitch tooling.
The user interface layer is now an optional component when deploying a LightSwitch solution, allowing a service-only deployment.
The first version of Visual Studio LightSwitch, released July 26, 2011, had many differences from the current release of LightSwitch. Notably the tool was purchased and installed as a stand-alone product. If Visual Studio 2010 Professional or higher was already installed on the machine, LightSwitch would integrate into that. The second major difference was the middle tier was built and exposed using WCF RIA Services.
As of October 14, 2016, Microsoft no longer recommends LightSwitch for new application development.
Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a freeware
source code editor, along with other features, for Linux, Mac OS, and Windows.
It also includes support for
debugging
In computer programming and software development, debugging is the process of finding and resolving '' bugs'' (defects or problems that prevent correct operation) within computer programs, software, or systems.
Debugging tactics can involve in ...
and embedded
Git Control. It is built on
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
,
and on April 14, 2016, version 1.0 was released.
Visual Studio Team System Profiler
Visual Studio Team System Profiler (VSTS Profiler) is a tool to analyze the performance of .NET projects that analyzes the space and time complexity of the program. It analyzes the code and prepares a report that includes CPU sampling, instrumentation, .NET memory allocation and
resource contention.
See also
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Comparison of integrated development environments
*
GitHub Copilot
*
Microsoft Small Basic
*
Microsoft Visual Studio Express
*
Visual Studio Code
References
External links
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{{JavaScript
1997 software
Distributed bug tracking systems
User interface builders
Windows-only software
Open-source software hosting facilities