What is the difference between C++ and Visual C++? [duplicate]

Question

C++ is a standardized language. Visual C++ is a product that more or less implements that standard. You can write portable C++ using Visual C++, but you can also use Microsoft-only extensions that destroy your portability but enhance your productivity. This is a trade-off. You have to decide what appeals most to you.

I've maintained big desktop apps that were written in Visual C++, so that is perfectly feasible. From what I know of Visual Basic, the main advantage seems to be that the first part of the development cycle may be done faster than when using Visual C++, but as the complexity of a project increases, C++ programs tend to be more maintainable (If the programmers are striving for maintainability, that is).

C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and originally named "C with Classes". It was renamed to C++ in 1983.

C++ is widely used in the software industry. Some of its application domains include systems software, application software, device drivers, embedded software, high-performance server and client applications, and entertainment software such as video games. Several groups provide both free and proprietary C++ compiler software, including the GNU Project, Microsoft, Intel, Borland and others.

---

Microsoft Visual C++ (often abbreviated as MSVC or VC++) is an integrated development environment (IDE) product from Microsoft for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages. MSVC is proprietary software; it was originally a standalone product but later became a part of Visual Studio and made available in both trialware and freeware forms. It features tools for developing and debugging C++ code, especially code written for Windows API, DirectX and .NET Framework.

---

So the main difference between them is that they are different things. The former is a programming language, while the latter is a commercial integrated development environment (IDE).

C++ is a programming language and Visual C++ is an IDE for developing with languages such as C and C++.

VC++ contains tools for, amongst others, developing against the .net framework and the Windows API.

C++ is a language and Visual C++ is a compiler for that language. Certainly, it (and every other compiler) introduces tiny modifications to the language, but the language recognized is mainly the same.

VC++ is not actually a language but is commonly referred to like one. When VC++ is referred to as a language, it usually means Microsoft's implementation of C++, which contains various knacks that do not exist in regular C++, such as the __super keyword. It is similar to the various GNU extensions to the C language that are implemented in GCC.