C++/CLI or plain C++ with regards to graphics / rendering

Question

I come from a .NET background and will be going into the field of rendering / graphics using OpenGL/DirectX. For this purpose C++ will be my language of choice to interact with these rendering frameworks.

As I understand it Visual C++ allows native support for CLI which is an extension to C++ that allows the application to benefit from the managed runtime. Would you recommend spending time getting accustomed with C++/CLI or should I stick to plain C++?

Also, when using the Visual C++ IDE what can I expect from the compiler? Will standard C++ compiled code be standard executables capable of running anywhere that a normal C++ executable would run? I've heard that the compiler for VC++ comes with issues of its own.

Answer 1

It really depends on what you're looking for. C++/CLI has advantages that few of the other .NET languages share (strong support for mixed mode being one of them), but it's still a .NET paradigm at heart. The only reason you're going to delve into it is if you want what .NET offers. If your primary need is for full-screen type applications, it's unlikely that learning the .NET extensions will get you much that learning one of the more capable C++ extension libraries wouldn't get you, and the C++-only option would retain cross-platform compatibility.

As to the compiler, recent years have seen dramatic improvements in Visual Studio's C++ compilation. The compiled executables require the correct runtime to be installed on the target system, but that is not a particularly onerous requirement.

Answer 2

1. C++/CLI in general is a pain and imho, not worth the positives of having access to the .NET library.
2. Visual C++ is a pretty decent compiler and will generate standard executables. However, it does follow the standard Windows paradigm of preferring to link to libraries dynamically and you may have issues if the correct libraries are installed on the running system. This could be an issue, say, for the standard c runtime, and some applications ensure that it is installed along with their program. If you dig into the build options, you can configure Visual C++ to do whatever you want, say link the c runtime statically (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/abx4dbyh(VS.80).aspx)