Microsoft Visual Studio

Some (default) directories

Installation root

Up to Visual Studio version 2015 (?), Visual Studio was installed under C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio <version>.

Beginning with Visual Studio 2017 (?), it is (by default) installed under C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\<version>\<edition> for example C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community.

Download cache

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages is the default location to download files.

Shared components, tools and SDKs

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Shared is the default location for shared content.

Environment variables

In order to run build tools from the command line (cmd.exe), some Visual Studio specific environment variables need to be set.

The value of the environment variables CL and CL_ are automatically used as options when cl is invoked. It might therefore be set to at least the value of /nologo.

Shortcut keys

Some interesting shortcut keys, imho, are:

`ctrl+q`	Search IDE features, menus, options and code in one place
`F5`	start debugging
`ctrl+F5`	start without debugging
`F9`	set breakpoint
`F12`	go to definition
`ctrl+.`	Quick actions and refactroings
`ctrl+r`	rename

Show building command lines

Visual Studio makes it possible to see the actual commands that are executed for a build. The amount (verbosity) can be set in the menu under Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> Build and Run and then adjusting the value of MSBuild project build output verbosity:

TODO

The scripts are found under c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\20xx\name of edition\VC\Auxiliary\Build

The headers for the vcruntime are found under c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\20xx\name of edition\VC\Tools\MSVC\lib-version\include

The link libraries are found under c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\20xx\name of edition\VC\Tools\MSVC\lib-version\lib\architecture

The version number of VS 2017 is 15.0, the VC++ version of 2017 is 14.xx (!). Compare with the values of the _MSC_VER and _MSC_FULL_VER preprocessor macros.

The IDE of Visual Studio is started with devenv.exe

There is also the directory "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\Tools\vsdevcmd\core" which contains

dotnet.bat
msbuild.bat
parse_cmd.bat
vsdevcmd_end.bat
vsdevcmd_start.bat
winsdk.bat

vsjitdebugger.exe: the Just-in-Time debugger

Live Share allows multiple developers to edit and debug a solution in real time

The Call Hierarchy window shows which methods are called by which other methdod.

CodeLens helps finding references to code, linked bugs, work items, code reviews and unit tests, without leaving the editor.

Installation

winget

By default, winget just installs the Visual Studio core workload.

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community

--override allows to add more workloads and components:

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community --override "--quiet --add Microsoft.Visualstudio.Workload.Azure"

vs_community.exe

vs_community.exe --passive --wait --nickname tq-vs-test installs or creates

VSLauncher.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer and C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community
C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Updates
The fonts Cascadia Code and Cascadia Mono

Installation configurations files

Installation configuration files can be used to specify what should be installed.

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community --override "--passive --config c:\my.vsconfig"

DSC

The Visual Studio Powershell DSC provider.

TODO^2

vs_installer.exe is the Visual Studio installer

vswhere.exe is the Visual Studio Locator.

Solution files and project files

A project file is an XML file has the suffix .vcxproj (or .csproj?) (in earlier versions, the suffix was .vcproj or even .dsp). The project file contains the information needed to build a C++ project.

One or more projects can be organized into a solution (which is a container of projects). The respective solution file has the suffix .sln.

The .*csproj file format has become leaner in Visual Studio 2017 and .NET Core 2.

A *.sqlproj file corresponds to a SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) project. The SSDT functionality can be separately enabled with the Vistual Studio Installer.

If SSDT is not installed and a solution contains an .sqlproj file, Visual Studio reports it as the project being incompatible and The application is not installed.

msbuild.exe

dotnet.exe sln adds, removes or lists projects in a solution file.

IntelliSense Database

Apparently, with Visual Studio 2015, Update 2, the IntelliSense Database is stored in an SQLite database with the name project.VC.db.

Workloads

When installing Visual Studio Community 2019, the installer allows to choose from the following workloads:

Web & Cloud

ASP.NET and web development
Azure development
Python development
Node.js development

Desktop & Mobile

.NET desktop development
Desktop development with C++
Universal Windows Platform development
Mobile development with .NET
Mobile development with C++

Gaming

Game development with Unity
Game development with C++

Other toolsets

Data storage and processing
Data science and analytical applications
Visual Studio extension development
Office/SharePoint development
Linux development with C++
.NET Core cross-platform development