I was looking at some same code (a sample MS Visual Studio C++ project) recently with multiple build configurations (Release/Debug, Win32/x64).

My question: What is the difference? I guess I understand Release/Debug (Release = finalized version of project, Debug = version used to run in debugger), but what things need to be considered when building different versions for Win32/x64 platforms? Is there any coding differences, or does this just affect how that same code is ultimately built into machine code?

I know there are different library files depending on whether you're using a 32-bit or 64-bit system as well... Are all of these differences again just machine code? Would a 32-bit library file and its corresponding 64-bit library file be two files with exactly the same functions build from the same source code originally, and only differing in their machine code implementation?

Thanks!

--Russel