Here's the step-by-step process of how Visual Studio creates the obj and bin folders when you build a project:
- Source Code Compilation (Creates obj folder first)
First, Visual Studio compiles your code files into intermediate files (like .obj files).
These temporary files are stored in the obj folder.
It also stores additional project metadata and information to keep track of the build process.
The obj folder is used by Visual Studio to incrementally compile your project, meaning it only recompiles the parts of your code that have changed.
- Linking and Final Output (Creates bin folder next)
Second, once the intermediate files are ready, Visual Studio links them together to create the final output (the executable .exe or library .dll).
This final output is saved in the bin folder.
Depending on whether you're in Debug or Release mode, it will place the final files in either the bin\Debug or bin\Release subfolder.