How to find an application's entry point in Visual Studio (C++)

Question

The question may apply to any programming language written in Visual Studio, but I am more concerned about C++.

Is there a way to easily determine the application entry point in Visual Studio?

For a relatively small application this could be easy, but for large ones, it will be pretty hard. In my particular case I know that the project which is set as startup is the one which has the entry point, but I was unable to find it, even though the application starts and runs well.

Answer 1

If you want to find what C++ project is executable than search for <ConfigurationType>Application</ConfigurationType> in all your *.vcxproj files.

If you are looking for the entry point function inside this application, than search for main, wmain or WinMain functions.

Also entry point can be redefined with /ENTRY parameter, so you can check Configuration Properties > Linker > Advanced > Entry Point project parameter or search for /ENTRY in your *.vcxproj.

Answer 2

In C++, a fully compiled program can have only one defined main method. If there's more than one, the compiler will complain about "multiple definitions of main" or some other similarly worded message.

So, the simplest option is to do a search for the symbol main (or, if compiling as a Windows Subsystem program, WinMain) and figure out which ones correspond to the "startup" project. There shouldn't be that many, even in a relatively large solution.