[FIXED] What is the cause of error D8040 in visual studio 2015?

Issue

When I build a project by visual studio 2013, it runs properly. But I encounter following errors after building with visual studio 2015. How can I solve this problem?

fatal error C1001: An internal error has occurred in the compiler. Command line error D8040: error creating or communicating with child process

Solution

C1001 is an "ICE", an Internal Compiler Error. It means your code generated a fatal bug in the compiler. Are you using VS 2015, VS 2015 Update 1, or VS 2015 Update 2?

One way to find which version of the compiler you have installed is to run the Developer Command Prompt for VS 2015 and then run the following command: cl -Bv and note which versions are reported. VS 2015 Update 2 is 19.00.23918.0

An "ICE" is always a bug. If your code is doing something wrong, the compiler should emit an error or a warning, not crash out. It's also possible your code is just fine, and there's been a new bug introduced in the compiler since VS 2013. There's been a lot of work done to the compiler to fully support C++11 as well as support the upcoming C++14/C++17 drafts.

You should file a bug on VS Connect. See this article for directions on creating a good repro. This blog post is also a great write-up of how to narrow down compiler problems.

In most cases, it's very difficult to repro an ICE with just a few lines of code, and is only triggered in very specific contexts. This is why the instructions above are all about providing a minimal repro that captures the essence of the problem. You can also try a newer build compiler to see if the problem has already been fixed.

Answered By - Chuck Walbourn

Answer Checked By - Robin (PHPFixing Admin)