The compiler that the Visual C++ IDE uses is actually the command-line compiler
cl.exe. What the Visual C++ IDE does is pass your files(c++, resource, etc.) and your options to the command-line compilers (c++, resource), linker and other tools. The output from these compilers/tools are redirected to your Visual C++ Output pane window. The Output Window is where you see DOS-like output from the compilers/tools.
In short, the "visual" in Visual C++ is the IDE: the text editor, debugger, the resource editors, the classwizard, the appwizard,the project-files/class/resource(workspace) trees, ... , and the output window.
The commandline compiler (cl.exe) and other commandline tools (link.exe,nmake.exe,rc.exe,etc.) are found in the BIN directory of your Visual C++ installation.
I hope that answers your question. Have fun programming in C/C++.
