A User Account Control prompt appeared. Alex clicked .
The small vs_community__...exe downloaded in seconds. Alex double-clicked it. visual studio c++ 2019 download
The estimated size: about 4 GB. Much smaller than 8 GB. A User Account Control prompt appeared
Alex scrolled down past ".NET desktop development," past "Universal Windows Platform," and checked the box for: That was it. On the right, Alex saw optional components. Unchecked "Live Share" (not needed), unchecked "C++ CMake tools" (not needed for basic work). Left "MSVC v142 - VS 2019 C++ x64/x86 build tools" checked (critical). Alex double-clicked it
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" x64 Alex chose the Developer Command Prompt. Typed cl hello.cpp . And there it was:
Microsoft (R) C/C++ Optimizing Compiler Version 19.29.30154 for x64 ... hello.cpp The hello.exe ran perfectly. The story ended with a success message on the screen: Hello, World!
The first rule Alex learned: No "visualcpp2019.exe" from a random forum. The only safe source is visualstudio.microsoft.com .