Writing C code in Visual C++ on VS2010

Question

I appreciate the differences are negligible, but im doing some number crunching and so i want to use C. Ive just created a project in VS2010, chosen a C++ project and written some C. All executes fine, but

is this being created and executed in the fast(er) C compiler or the C++ because its a C++ project?

How can i specify that the code i wish to write is actually C and to be compiled and run as C?

Answer 1

The Visual Studio C++ compiler will treat all .c files as C language files and compile them as such.

Additional reference:

By default, the Visual C++ compiler treats all files that end in .c as C source code, and all files that end in .cpp as C++ source code. To force the compiler to treat all files as C regardless of file name extension, use the /Tc compiler option.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb384838.aspx

Answer 2

You are just being silly now. C is not guaranteed to be faster than C++ in any way - it's all compiled to native machine instructions in the end. If you want a true performance leap you should use another compiler, Intels for example, or use the GPU or something like that.

Answer 3

What will actually give you more speed is to use Intel's compiler, which is available as a plugin. The real-world differences are significant, especially for number crunching. The difference between C and C++ is dubious.

Here's a good place to start: link text

Since you're number crunching, you should consider using SIMD extensions, if possible. Using SIMD on Intel's compiler, vs. straight MS C compiled code, will give you some serious gain.