Choose Visual Studio 2013 (Professional/Ultimate) if:
By 2013, Git and Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) were standard. Both versions support basic source control integration. However: vs express 2013
The debugger in both versions offers breakpoints, watch windows, call stacks, and immediate windows. But the depth differs enormously: Choose Visual Studio 2013 (Professional/Ultimate) if :
| Feature | VS 2013 Pro/Ultimate | VS Express 2013 | |---------|----------------------|------------------| | Edit and Continue (C++) | Yes | Limited (C# only) | | IntelliTrace (historical debugging) | Ultimate only | No | | Code Map debugger visualization | Ultimate only | No | | Parallel stacks/tasks windows | Yes | No | | Attach to running process | Yes (any process) | No (only your launched app) | | Memory dump analysis | Yes (with SOS extension) | No | | Remote debugging | Full support | Limited (target must match Express edition) | By 2013, Git and Team Foundation Version Control
Practical impact: If your multithreaded C++ application deadlocks on a customer’s machine, with Express you cannot attach to the hung process, analyze the dump, or trace the race condition using parallel visualization. You would be reduced to printf debugging — a devastating loss of productivity for any serious developer.