The Alpha edition of Visual C++ supports unique features not found in the x86 edition. Because these features are specific to the Alpha architecture, use them with care if you intend to recompile applications on the x86 platform. The #ifdef directive, along with the appropriate platform specifier, is recommended for using Alpha-specific features while maintaining portable code. Alternatively, you can isolate platform-specific features into separate modules.
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 provide more detail on the features summarized in this section.