C++ language

This is a brief reference of available C++ language constructs.

[edit] General topics

[edit] Preprocessor

[edit] Comments

[edit] Keywords

[edit] ASCII chart

[edit] Escape sequences

[edit] History of C++

[edit] Flow control

[edit] Conditional execution statements

Conditional statements execute different code paths according to the value of given expression.

• if executes code conditionally
• switch executes code according to the value of an integral argument

[edit] Iteration statements

Iteration statements execute a code path multiple times.

• for executes loops by specifying initialization, comparison, and increment
• range-for executes loops over a range (since C++11)
• while executes loop, checking condition before each iteration
• do-while executes loop, checking condition after each iteration

[edit] Jump statements

Jump statements continue program execution at a different location.

• continue skips the remaining part of the enclosing loop body
• break terminates the enclosing loop
• goto continues execution in another location
• return terminates execution of the enclosing function

[edit] Functions

The same code can be reused at different locations in the program.

• function declarations declare functions
• lambda function declarations declare lambda functions (since C++11)
• function templates declare function templates
• inline specifier hints that the compiler insert a function's body directly into the calling code
• exception specifications declare that a function throws only specific exceptions (deprecated)
• noexcept specifier declares whether or not a function throws any exceptions (since C++11)

[edit] Exceptions

Exceptions are a more robust way to signal error condition than function return codes or global error variables.

• throw expressions signal errors and transfer control to error handlers
• try-catch blocks catch exceptions originating from specific blocks of code
• noexcept specifier and noexcept operator define and test if expressions throw exceptions (since C++11)

[edit] Namespaces

Namespaces provide a way to prevent name clashes in large projects.

• namespace declarations declare namespaces
• namespace aliases declare alternate names for existing namespaces

[edit] Types

• fundamental types define basic character, integer and floating point types
• pointer types define types holding a memory location
• compound types define types that hold several data members (essentially the same as class)
• enumeration types define types that are able to hold only one of the specified values
• union types define types that can hold data in several representations
• function types define function call signatures, that is the types of arguments and the return type
• decltype specifier defines a type equivalent to the type of an expression (since C++11)

[edit] Specifiers

• cv specifiers specify constness and volatility of types
• storage duration specifiers specify storage duration of types
• constexpr specifier specifies that the value of a variable or function can be computed at compile time (since C++11)
• auto specifier specifies that the actual type shall be defined from the expression, assigned to the variable (since C++11)
• alignas specifier specifies that the storage for the variable should be aligned by specific amount (since C++11)

[edit] Literals

Literals are the tokens of a C++ program that represent constant values, embedded in the source code.

• integer literals are decimal, octal, or hexadecimal numbers of integer type.
• character literals are individual characters of type char, char16_t, char32_t, or wchar_t
• floating-point literals are values of type float, double, or long double
• string literals are sequences of characters, which may be narrow, multibyte, or wide
• boolean literals are values of type bool, that is true and false
• nullptr is the pointer literal which specifies a null pointer value (since C++11)
• user-defined literals are constant values of user-specified type (since C++11)

[edit] Expressions

An expression is a sequence of operators and operands that specifies a computation. An expression can result in a value and can cause side effects.

• value categories (lvalue, rvalue, glvalue, prvalue, xvalue) classify expressions by their values
• order of evaluation of arguments and subexpressions specify the order in which intermediate results are obtained
• operators allow the use of syntax commonly found in mathematics

• operator precedence defines the order in which operators are bound to their arguments
• alternative representations are alternative spellings for some operators

[edit] Utilities

Types

• typedef declarations create synonyms for types
• type alias declarations create synonyms for types
• attributes define additional information about variables (since C++11)

Casts

• standard conversions implicit conversions from one type to another
• const_cast conversion
• static_cast conversion
• dynamic_cast conversion
• reinterpret_cast conversion
• explicit cast conversion using C-style cast notation and functional notation

Memory allocation

• new expression allocates memory dynamically
• delete expression deallocates memory dynamically

[edit] Classes

Classes provide the concept of object-oriented programming in C++.

• class declarations declare classes
• this pointer links to the current instance of a class in member methods
• access specifiers determine visibility of class members
• friend specifier grants access privileges to private/protected parts for non-member classes or functions
• initializer lists initialize class member data

[edit] Class-specific function properties

• virtual function specifier declares that a function is virtual
• override specifier declares that a virtual function overrides another virtual function.(since C++11)
• final specifier declares that a virtual function can not be overridden in a inheriting class.(since C++11)
• explicit function specifier declares that a constructor or conversion operator can not be used in implicit conversions (since C++11)
• static function specifier declares that a function does not use class data
• cv function specifier declares that a member function can only be used on cv qualified objects

[edit] Special member functions

• default constructor initializes the object with default contents
• copy constructor initializes the object with the contents of another object
• move constructor initializes the object with the contents of other, temporary object, minimizing copying overhead (since C++11)
• assignment operator replaces the contents of the object with the contents of another object
• move assignment operator replaces the contents of the object with the contents of other, temporary object, minimizing copying overhead (since C++11)
• destructor releases claimed resources

[edit] Templates

Allows functions and classes to operate on generic types

• class template declaration declares a class template
• function template declaration declares a function template
• template specialization defines an existing template for a specific type
• parameter packs allows the use of lists of types in templates (since C++11)

[edit] Miscellaneous

• Inline assembly allows the use of assembly code alongside C++ code