   The transition from dev-c++ to vs c++ express
  I am having no end of trouble getting code to compile and run using vs express.I have been using dev-c++ for about 3 years now and I got fed up with that so I decided I should switch.But compiling very simple libaries and even a single file source code is very troublesome.For example when I try to compile this I get about 42 errors coming from header files. Starting with:1>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\include\winnt.h(477) : error C2467: illegal declaration of anonymous 'struct'1>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\include\winnt.h(495) : error C2467: illegal declaration of anonymous 'struct'1With dev-c++ I dont have to worry about a million and one project options and neither do I have to deal with all this pre configuration. Heck before I can even compile win32 apps I need to download the platform sdk.Is there an faq for people transitioning from dev-c++ to visual express?   
  Update:The windows headers require language extensions to compile, it seems I had turned them off. Why do you need language extensions to begin with?Next Problem: I was no getting debug info put into my executable.I had to gointo the project properties and enable debugging info in the linker tab. This was extremely annoying because the build configuration was named debug but did not tell the linker to embed the debugging information by default. What sense does that make?Not only that but I had the put the _DEBUG in the preprocessor directives manually.Another thing... Where is compile and run!? What kind of IDE does not have a compile and run option? It seems to only let you debug ...I left dev-c++ for this?[Edited by - try_catch_this on May 25, 2006 10:29:47 PM];  Did you do a debug or a release build? If you want debug, you should do a debug build (which will place the _DEBUG directive in IIRC).Edit: It looks like you are doing a debug build... Seems like a weird config issue. VS express worked perfectly for me after setting the correct inlude/lib paths. Have you messed with any other config options?   ;  By default the build configuration is debug.But it dosent tell the linker to put in the debug info ... which is stupid.   ;Quote:What kind of IDE does not have a compile and run option? It seems to only let you debug ...What kind of programmer assumes that terminology used in one IDE should be carried over verbatim to another IDE? ;P"Start without Debugging" in Visual Studio is equivalent to "Compile and Run" in in Dev-C++, by default. Visual Studio will prompt you to rebuild (if neccessary) when you execute this command (although this behavior can be modified).Quote:By default the build configuration is debug.But it dosent tell the linker to put in the debug info ... which is stupid.It should. It always has for me. You may have an installation / configuration issue that's causing unexpected results, somewhere.   ;  Project properties / Linker / Debugging / Generate Debug info / Set it to yes.Project properties / C/C++ / Optimization / Turn them off.Project properties / C/C++ / General / Debug information format / Program Database for Edit & Continue (/ZI)   