Favoring Pentium Pro
Whereas the speed/size/no optimization switches are mutually exclusive, the
remaining choices on the Project Properties dialog box can be selected for either
the speed or size optimization. If you select Favor Pentium Pro, your code will
run a little faster on computers with Pentium Pro processors.
It probably doesn’t need to be said, but you shouldn’t use this
option unless you know that your program is likely to be deployed on a machine
equipped with a Pentium Pro. Don’t worry about breaking anything if you
run the program on a computer with a slower CPU. The program will still run on
a standard Pentium, or even a 486 or 386. As long as the computer can run a 32-bit
Windows program, your program will still run—it just won’t perform
as well. If you aren’t sure where your program will be deployed, don’t
use Favor Pentium Pro.
Creating Symbolic Debug Info
The last of the choices you can make on the basic optimization dialog box isn’t
really an optimization at all. If you check the Create Symbolic Debug Info box,
the compiler will generate symbolic debug information for your project. This doesn’t
change the size or performance of your EXE file, but it does generate a PDB file
containing the symbol information for the EXE. Bear in mind that the PDB file
is of no value to you unless you have a debugger that can use CodeView-style debug
information. That rules out the built-in VB debugger. If you want to use the Visual
C++ debugger, however, you can.
