Which visual Studios 2012 do i need?

Started by
7 comments, last by jbadams 11 years, 3 months ago

Hello, i am not which where i should post this but which one of the many Visual studios 2012 express do i need? I just got a new laptop(windows 7) so i decided to get the new visual studios c++ 2012 ide(was using 2010 before). I am planning to use c++ with sfml or sdl and eventually openGL to make games for the pc. I am kinda confused because there are 5 different types of the program. Thanks for any help and if i posted this in the wrong fourm.

Advertisement
You want the "Express for Windows Desktop" one.

You probably just want Express for Windows Desktop. Express for Web is for web development, Express for Windows Phone is for phone development, Team Foundation Server is more for team management stuff. Express for Windows 8 is more focused on developing Metro-style apps. Express for Windows Desktop is for traditional desktop-style apps, which is what SFML targets, and thus probably what you want.

[size=2][ I was ninja'd 71 times before I stopped counting a long time ago ] [ f.k.a. MikeTacular ] [ My Blog ] [ SWFer: Gaplessly looped MP3s in your Flash games ]

Thanks :)

You probably just want Express for Windows Desktop. Express for Web is for web development, Express for Windows Phone is for phone development, Team Foundation Server is more for team management stuff. Express for Windows 8 is more focused on developing Metro-style apps. Express for Windows Desktop is for traditional desktop-style apps, which is what SFML targets, and thus probably what you want.

I have 2010, If i download 2012 could i open 2010 project or most i manually build?

You can open 2010 projects with 2012, if you do, you get a choice to update them to 2012 or to keep them in 2010, your visual studio would then compile them using the 2010 compiler.

Something new with the express editions this year which is nice is that all three languages (c++, c#, VB) all come in the same IDE and do not have to be downloaded separately.

Stay gold, Pony Boy.

I noticed that many people have already provided the same answer I would which is "Express". Just wanted to chime in and say I agree all you need is express, also let me elaborate a bit more hopefully to help you understand what the true differences actually are.

In C++ you write code an run it through a compiler with potentially a slue of additional commands linking to external libraries and what not. As such you technically don't need an IDE (Such as Visual Studio), you just need to write your code and run it through the compiler with the correct command's. The reason that most if not all professional programmers choose to use an IDE is because it greatly simplifies the coding procedure through using intellisense (auto completion & popup tips), syntax highlighting (the colors) and allows you to point and click your settings that are later fed into the compiler as the proper commands.

With that said we get to the differences between professional and express versions of visual studio. Most simply, the express version is everything you need to code and compile your programs, it's ready out of the box. The pro versions allow you to install and use mod's and plugins that extend how the IDE itself works. In most cases they don't particularly make any difference to what you code or create. Examples would be like including SVN, Git or Preforce project collaboration. It can be nice to have some of these extra plugins, but if you can't afford or simply don't want to pay for pro... don't. It's not like your game itself will be any different if you make it with express or pro.

Dan Mayor

Professional Programmer & Hobbyist Game Developer

Seeking team for indie development opportunities, see my classifieds post

[quote name='Dan Mayor' timestamp='1358383321' post='5022385']
[...]
[/quote]

Good information Dan... except that you weren't really addressing the question being asked. The OP was trying to find out which express edition to install, the pro version was never on the table. Cornstalks gave a good summary of what the different flavours of express edition are for above. smile.png

- Jason Astle-Adams

This topic is closed to new replies.

Advertisement