Why not use Edit and Continue in visual studio?

Question

Edit and Continue looks like a great option, so why Microsoft made it optional (you have to check the relevant checkbox to make it work)?

I read in this post that it works by leaving some extra room around functions in the binary image, does it have any noticeable effect on performance of the debugging process?

Is there any other reason why I would want to make it disabled?

Answer 1

E+C is not for everybody, it doesn't scale on very large programs that use a lot of static libraries. They'll prefer retaining the ability to edit code while the program is running. E+C only allows editing with a breakpoint active and insists on being able to compile changes to continue running.

Sure, it has an effect on perf. Indirectly because it requires a debug build with the optimizer turned off. Directly because of those stack reservations, you'll hit this site's name a lot quicker. Working with smaller data sets to debug the program is typically pragmatic or necessary.