How to compile and link cpp files as seperate executables in Visual Studio?

Question

I am working on the exercises in Sam's teach yourself C++ book. I want to have each chapter exercises as a separate project in a solution. I am wondering if it is possible to set it up so each .cpp file gets compiled and linked as a separate executable? for example Exercise1.cpp would get compiled as Exercise1.exe and Exercise2.cpp would get compiled as Exercise2.exe. If not would I have to have each exercise as a separate project in the solution?

Answer 1

VS combines all .cpp files into a single executable per project. So if you want each .cpp to be a separate executable but you still want to use VS then you'll need to create a separate project for each .cpp file.

If you are just using VS as the editor but are fine building from the command line then you can use the command line to select the .cpp file(s) to build into a single executable. Behind the scenes this is what VS does, it just gets the list of .cpp files the project.

A final option, but not one I recommend, is to have a single project and then include/exclude the .cpp files that you want in the binary. This is harder to manage and can be very confusing if you come back to it later but it works.

Answer 2

Hi @Edward Jack ,

At present, visual studio does not support this function, and usually executes the program with a solution, but VS Code can execute a single .cpp file.

If you need to execute a single .cpp file in visual studio, I suggest you go to DC and propose that you need this functionality.

Best regards,

Elya

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