Why is Visual C++ lacking refactor functionality?

c++ visual-studio visual-studio-2008 visual-c++
xyz picture xyz · Dec 12, 2008 · Viewed 42.3k times · Source

When programming in C++ in Visual Studio 2008, why is there no functionality like that seen in the refactor menu when using C#?

I use Rename constantly and you really miss it when it's not there. I'm sure you can get plugins that offer this, but why isn't it integrated in to the IDE when using C++? Is this due to some gotcha in the way that C++ must be parsed?

Answer

JSBձոգչ picture JSBձոգչ · Dec 12, 2008

The syntax and semantics of C++ make it incredibly difficult to correctly implement refactoring functionality. It's possible to implement something relatively simple to cover 90% of the cases, but in the remaining 10% of cases that simple solution will horribly break your code by changing things you never wanted to change.

Read http://yosefk.com/c++fqa/defective.html#defect-8 for a brief discussion of the difficulties that any refactoring code in C++ has to deal with.

Microsoft has evidently decided to punt on this particular feature for C++, leaving it up to third-party developers to do what they can.

Related questions

Problems with running EXE file built with Visual Studio on another computer

I created a client server application in C++ using Visual Studio. Now I want to run the client EXE file on another computer (which doesn't have Visual Studio installed), but when I try run the EXE file, it gives the …

Read More
constant variables not working in header

if I define my constant varibles in my header like this... extern const double PI = 3.1415926535; extern const double PI_under_180 = 180.0f / PI; extern const double PI_over_180 = PI/180.0f; I get the following error 1>MyDirectX.obj : error LNK2005: "double …

Read More
How do I set the icon for my application in visual studio 2008?

How do I set the executable icon for my C++ application in visual studio 2008?

Read More