Visual C++ Guided Tour
In this guided tour you will learn about the Visual Studio development environment and about the various types of desktop applications that you can create with any edition of Visual C++ except Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8. Examples include command-line applications, Windows applications, and even a simple game. This guided tour will also teach you how to create reusable libraries of code, and how to ship your code to customers after you have written and tested it.
Note
For information about using the IDE to create Windows Store apps with Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8, see Create Your First Windows Store app with C++.
Because each topic builds on information in the topics before it, we recommend that you complete the guided tour in order. At the bottom of each topic, you will find navigation links to the next topic in the guided tour, and a link to the previous topic if you want to go back and review something.
The guided tour assumes that you understand the fundamentals of the C++ language.
In This Section
Using the Visual Studio IDE for C++ Desktop Development
Describes how to use the Visual Studio IDE to create solutions and projects, to write code efficiently, and to build, debug, test, and deploy applications.Visual C++ Tools and Templates in Visual Studio Editions
Lists which project types and tools are available in the various editions of Visual C++ in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.