ISVs Are Major Focus of Visual C++ Roadmap

Visual C++ 2005, part of Visual Studio 2005, is currently in beta, giving developers their first look at the roadmap for Visual C++. Two major themes are apparent in this roadmap: helping ISVs with existing C++ applications take advantage of the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR), while simultaneously increasing support for ANSI C++ standards. The two themes are in some ways contradictory, but both are aimed at reinvigorating C++ development and preventing defection to other languages and platforms.

Stronger Focus on ISVs

C, according to its co-creator Dennis Ritchie, was devised in the early 1970s as a “system implementation language for the nascent Unix operating system.” C++, which evolved from C by adding support for object-oriented programming concepts, such as classes and inheritance, shares the same basic design. Even developers not using C++’s object-oriented features often use it as a better, more modern version of C. For purposes of this article, the two languages are close enough to be considered interchangeable.