The strength of the Visual C++ Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is its overall usability and polished user interface. From top to bottom it provides a robust set of code management tools, plus built-in debugging abilities. To get started, the AppWizard tool lets you generate skeleton code for a wide variety of project types, including building applications that take advantage of the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), a powerful C++ class library. In just a few minutes, we generated the "skeleton code" for a full-featured Windows application.

Other wizards help simplify development throughout the project development cycle. The ClassView tool makes it easy to browse source your C++ code. (Instead of worrying about the files that your code resides in, you can treat your C++ code in a truly object-oriented manner.) A big win for any Visual C++ user is Microsoft's excellent instant pop-up help system (called IntelliSense). As you write code, the IDE gives you a list of all available C++ methods and properties so you can minimize typing.

Another wizard that simplifies many aspects of development is the ClassWizard, used for deriving new classes from old ones automatically, as well as attaching MFC code to Windows messages (like clicking a mouse or pressing a key). Other integrated tools include the ResourceView tool for designing visual resources like dialog boxes and bitmaps.

Once you have written your program, you will need to debug it. Visual C++'s powerful debugger makes it easy to test your code. Besides setting breakpoints, you can view variables easily using watch variables. Standout features here include being able to highlight variables and inspect their contents within the code source window. You can also drag and drop variables to the watch window, a timesaving feature.

With its rich array of features, Visual C++ continues to be the compiler of choice for Windows development pros. The Standard Edition provides an affordable, entry-level version of this topnotch C++ tool. --Rich Dragan