Add MS Build Tools links

Add new section on Microsoft Build Tools, improve formatting.

MSBT provides CLI compiler and other related tools (without the overhead of the Visual Studio IDE) to compile programs on Windows.

1 files changed, 49 insertions, 44 deletions

diff --git a/README.win32 b/README.win32
index df40650935..05ade22788 100644
--- a/README.win32
+++ b/README.win32
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ delivering complete gcc toolchain for MS Windows:
 
 Delivers gcc toolchain building 32-bit executables (which can be used both 32 and 64 bit Windows platforms)
 
-=item L<http://mingw-w64.org>
+=item L<https://mingw-w64.org>
 
 Delivers gcc toolchain targeting both 64-bit Windows and 32-bit Windows
 platforms (despite the project name "mingw-w64" they are not only 64-bit
@@ -74,10 +74,10 @@ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/productinfo/vs2013-compatibility-v
 and
 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/productinfo/vs2013-sysrequirements-vs
 
-The MinGW64 compiler is available at L<http://mingw-w64.org>.
+The MinGW64 compiler is available at L<https://mingw-w64.org>.
 The latter is actually a cross-compiler targeting Win64. There's also a trimmed
 down compiler (no java, or gfortran) suitable for building perl available at:
-L<http://strawberryperl.com/package/kmx/64_gcctoolchain/>
+L<https://strawberryperl.com/package/kmx/64_gcctoolchain/>
 
 NOTE: If you're using a 32-bit compiler to build perl on a 64-bit Windows
 operating system, then you should set the WIN64 environment variable to "undef".
@@ -135,20 +135,25 @@ These free versions of Visual C++ 2013-2022 Professional contain the same
 compilers and linkers that ship with the full versions, and also contain
 everything necessary to build Perl.
 
-These packages can be downloaded by searching in the Download Center at
-L<https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en>.  (Providing exact
-links to these packages has proven a pointless task because the links keep on
-changing so often.)
+These packages can be downloaded from L<https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/>.
 
 Install Visual C++ 2013-2022 Community, then setup your environment
 using, e.g.
 
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\Tools\vsvars32.bat
+F<C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\Tools\vsvars32.bat>
 
 (assuming the default installation location was chosen).
 
-Perl should now build using the win32/Makefile.  You will need to edit that
-file to set CCTYPE to one of MSVC120-MSVC142 first.
+Perl should now build using the F<win32/Makefile>.  You will need to edit that
+file to set C<CCTYPE> to one of C<MSVC120>-C<MSVC143> first.
+
+=item Microsoft C++ Build Tools
+
+There's also a standalone (IDE-less) version of the build tools mentioned
+above containing the MSVC compiler available for download from
+L<https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/visual-cpp-build-tools/>.
+
+This is also referred to as I<Build Tools for Visual Studio>.
 
 =item GCC
 
@@ -156,7 +161,7 @@ Perl can be compiled with gcc from MinGW (version 3.4.5 or later) or from
 MinGW64 (version 4.4.3 or later).  It can be downloaded here:
 
 L<https://osdn.net/projects/mingw/>
-L<http://www.mingw-w64.org/>
+L<https://www.mingw-w64.org/>
 
 You also need gmake. Usually it comes with MinGW but its executable may have
 a different name, such as mingw32-make.exe.
@@ -169,11 +174,11 @@ or later, and with MinGW64 64-bit 6.3.0 or later.
 =item Intel C++ Compiler
 
 Experimental support for using Intel C++ Compiler has been added. Edit
-win32/Makefile and pick the correct CCTYPE for the Visual C that Intel C was
-installed into. Also uncomment __ICC to enable Intel C on Visual C support.
+F<win32/Makefile> and pick the correct C<CCTYPE> for the Visual C that Intel C
+was installed into. Also uncomment C<__ICC> to enable Intel C on Visual C support.
 To set up the build environment, from the Start Menu run
 IA-32 Visual Studio 20__ mode or Intel 64 Visual Studio 20__ mode as
-appropriate. Then run nmake as usually in that prompt box.
+appropriate. Then run C<nmake> as usual in that prompt box.
 
 Only Intel C++ Compiler v12.1 has been tested. Other versions probably will
 work. Using Intel C++ Compiler instead of Visual C has the benefit of C99
@@ -189,65 +194,65 @@ unlike GCC.
 
 =item *
 
-Make sure you are in the "win32" subdirectory under the perl toplevel.
-This directory contains a "Makefile" that will work with
-versions of nmake that come with Visual C++, and
-a GNU make "GNUmakefile" that will work for all supported compilers.
-The defaults in the gmake makefile are setup to build using MinGW/gcc.
+Make sure you are in the F<win32> subdirectory under the perl toplevel.
+This directory contains a F<Makefile> that will work with
+versions of C<nmake> that come with Visual C++, and
+a GNU make F<GNUmakefile> that will work for all supported compilers.
+The defaults in the C<gmake> makefile are set up to build with MinGW/gcc.
 
 =item *
 
-Edit the GNUmakefile (or Makefile, if you're using nmake) and change the values
-of INST_DRV and INST_TOP. You can also enable various build flags. These are
-explained in the makefiles.
+Edit the F<GNUmakefile> (or F<Makefile>, if you're using F<nmake>) and change
+the values of I<INST_DRV> and C<INST_TOP>. You can also enable various build
+flags. These are explained in the makefiles.
 
-Note that it is generally not a good idea to try to build a perl with
-INST_DRV and INST_TOP set to a path that already exists from a previous
+Note that it is generally not a good idea to try to build a C<perl> with
+C<INST_DRV> and C<INST_TOP> set to a path that already exists from a previous
 build.  In particular, this may cause problems with the
-lib/ExtUtils/t/Embed.t test, which attempts to build a test program and
-may end up building against the installed perl's lib/CORE directory rather
-than the one being tested.
+F<lib/ExtUtils/t/Embed.t> test, which attempts to build a test program and
+may end up building against the installed C<perl>'s F<lib/CORE> directory
+rather than the one being tested.
 
-You will have to make sure that CCTYPE is set correctly and that
-CCHOME points to wherever you installed your compiler.  For GCC this
+You will have to make sure that C<CCTYPE> is set correctly and that
+C<CCHOME> points to wherever you installed your compiler.  For GCC this
 should be the directory that contains the F<bin>, F<include> and
 F<lib> directories.
 
 If building with the cross-compiler provided by
 mingw-w64.org you'll need to uncomment the line that sets
-GCCCROSS in the GNUmakefile. Do this only if it's the cross-compiler - ie
-only if the bin folder doesn't contain a gcc.exe. (The cross-compiler
-does not provide a gcc.exe, g++.exe, ar.exe, etc. Instead, all of these
-executables are prefixed with 'x86_64-w64-mingw32-'.)
+C<GCCCROSS> in the F<GNUmakefile>. Do this only if it's the cross-compiler,
+ie. only if the F<bin> folder doesn't contain a F<gcc.exe>. (The cross-compiler
+does not provide a F<gcc.exe>, F<g++.exe>, F<ar.exe>, etc. Instead, all of these
+executables are prefixed with C<x86_64-w64-mingw32->.)
 
-The default value for CCHOME in the makefiles for Visual C++
+The default value for C<CCHOME> in the makefiles for Visual C++
 may not be correct for some versions.  Make sure the default exists
 and is valid.
 
-If you want build some core extensions statically into perl's dll, specify
-them in the STATIC_EXT macro.
+If you want build some core extensions statically into C<perl>'s DLL,
+specify them in the C<STATIC_EXT> macro.
 
 Be sure to read the instructions near the top of the makefiles carefully.
 
 =item *
 
-Type "gmake" (or "nmake" if you are using that make).
+Type C<gmake> (or C<nmake> if you are using that version of C<make>).
 
-This should build everything.  Specifically, it will create perl.exe,
-perl537.dll at the perl toplevel, and various other extension dll's
-under the lib\auto directory.  If the build fails for any reason, make
+This should build everything.  Specifically, it will create F<perl.exe>,
+F<perl537.dll> at the perl toplevel, and various other extension DLL's
+under the F<lib\auto> directory.  If the build fails for any reason, make
 sure you have done the previous steps correctly.
 
-To try gmake's parallel mode, type "gmake -j2", where 2, is the maximum number
+To try C<gmake>'s parallel mode, type C<gmake -j2> where C<2> is the maximum number
 of parallel jobs you want to run. A number of things in the build process will
 run in parallel, but there are serialization points where you will see just 1
 CPU maxed out. This is normal.
 
 If you are advanced enough with building C code, here is a suggestion to speed
-up building perl, and the later C<make test>. Try to keep your PATH environmental
+up building C<perl>, and the later C<make test>. Try to keep your C<PATH> environment
 variable with the least number of folders possible (remember to keep your C
-compiler's folders there). C<C:\WINDOWS\system32> or C<C:\WINNT\system32>
-depending on your OS version should be first folder in PATH, since "cmd.exe"
+compiler's folders there). F<C:\WINDOWS\system32> or F<C:\WINNT\system32>
+depending on your OS version should be first folder in C<PATH>, since C<cmd.exe>
 is the most commonly launched program during the build and later testing.
 
 =back