To all C++ devs: If you haven’t heard C++26 is official.
WG21 signed it off in March, and the pieces are already showing up in compiler trunk: static reflection, contracts, a new async model, a real push on memory safety. The language didn’t just pick up a few features. Its surface area grew, and the code your team writes against it will grow right along with it.
Here’s the part that you will notice when you code: Heavier metaprogramming, more generated code, bigger solutions. This will manifest first in the stock tooling inside Visual Studio. It’s when IntelliSense starts to stall and finding symbols takes an extra beat. It’s small but it adds up quietly becomes ingrained as your normal.
That gap is the reason Visual Assist exists. It’s built for the hard case: large, modern C++ where default parsing and navigation start to lag. The more a codebase modernizes, the more pressure the defaults are under, which is exactly when a parser built for code intelligence instead of compilation earns its keep.
If your install is a release or two behind, a few things worth a fresh look:
- Full Visual Studio 2026 support
- 60+ C++ code inspections that flag issues while you write
- Deep macro analysis, and Find References that stays quick on big solutions
- Get parser and syntax support for C++-flavored language not supported by Visual Studio such as CUDA files, Shader files, and more
There’s also VA Intelligence now: local AI inside Visual Studio for explaining and changing code. It runs on your machine, only when you ask, and you review every change before it lands.
The new standard or personal license provides multiple fair reasons to get current. And great news for you, through June 30, new licenses are 30% off:
- Personal — $129, now $90.30
- Standard — $279, now $195.30
The discount is auto-applied at checkout, no code to enter. The offer applies to new licenses only.
C++ keeps getting bigger. The tooling you move through it with shouldn’t be the thing that slows down.
Applies to new Standard, Network/Concurrent* & Personal licenses. Renewals excluded. Offer ends June 30, 2026. *Via sales quote only.