Difference between revisions of "cpp/language/constexpr"
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===Example=== | ===Example=== |
Revision as of 18:07, 11 August 2024
constexpr
- specifies that the value of a variable or function can appear in constant expressions
Contents |
Explanation
The constexpr specifier declares that it is possible to evaluate the value of the function or variable at compile time. Such variables and functions can then be used where only compile time constant expressions are allowed (provided that appropriate function arguments are given).
A constexpr specifier used in an object declaration or non-static member function(until C++14) implies const. A constexpr specifier used in a function or static data member(since C++17) declaration implies inline. If any declaration of a function or function template has a constexpr specifier, then every declaration must contain that specifier.
constexpr variable
A constexpr variable must satisfy the following requirements:
- its type must be a LiteralType
- it must be immediately initialized
- the full-expression of its initialization, including all implicit conversions, constructors calls, etc, must be a constant expression
If a constexpr variable is not translation-unit-local, it should not be initialized to refer to a translation-unit-local entity that is usable in constant expressions, nor have a subobject that refers to such an entity. Such initialization is disallowed in a module interface unit (outside its private-module-fragment, if any) or a module partition, and is deprecated in any other context. |
(since C++20) |
constexpr function
A constexpr function must satisfy the following requirements:
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(until C++20) |
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(since C++20) |
- for constructor and destructor(since C++20), the class must have no virtual base classes
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(until C++23) |
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(until C++14) | ||
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(since C++14) (until C++23) |
constexpr constructorA constexpr constructor whose function body is not = delete; must satisfy the following additional requirements:
constexpr destructor
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(until C++23) |
For constexpr function templates and constexpr member functions of class templates, at least one specialization must satisfy the abovementioned requirements. Other specializations are still considered as constexpr, even though a call to such a function cannot appear in a constant expression.
If no specialization of the template would satisfy the requirements for a constexpr function when considered as a non-template function, the template is ill-formed, no diagnostic required. |
(until C++23) |
A constexpr function implicitly becomes an immediate function if it is not marked consteval, uses an immediate function in a non-constant manner, and is
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(since C++20) |
Notes
Because the constexpr int f(); constexpr bool b1 = noexcept(f()); // false, undefined constexpr function constexpr int f() { return 0; } constexpr bool b2 = noexcept(f()); // true, f() is a constant expression |
(until C++17) |
It is possible to write a constexpr function whose invocation can never satisfy the requirements of a core constant expression: void f(int& i) // not a constexpr function { i = 0; } constexpr void g(int& i) // well-formed since C++23 { f(i); // unconditionally calls f, cannot be a constant expression } |
(since C++23) |
Constexpr constructors are permitted for classes that aren't literal types. For example, the default constructor of std::shared_ptr is constexpr, allowing constant initialization.
Reference variables can be declared constexpr (their initializers have to be reference constant expressions):
static constexpr int const& x = 42; // constexpr reference to a const int object // (the object has static storage duration // due to life extension by a static reference)
Even though try blocks and inline assembly are allowed in constexpr functions, throwing exceptions or executing the assembly is still disallowed in a constant expression. If a variable has constant destruction, there is no need to generate machine code in order to call destructor for it, even if its destructor is not trivial. A non-lambda, non-special-member, and non-templated constexpr function cannot implicitly become an immediate function. Users need to explicitly mark it consteval to make such an intended function definition well-formed. |
(since C++20) |
Feature-test macro | Value | Std | Feature |
---|---|---|---|
__cpp_constexpr |
200704L | (C++11) | constexpr |
201304L | (C++14) | Relaxed constexpr, non-const constexpr methods | |
201603L | (C++17) | Constexpr lambda | |
201907L | (C++20) | Trivial default initialization and asm-declaration in constexpr functions | |
202002L | (C++20) | Changing the active member of a union in constant evaluation | |
202110L | (C++23) | Non-literal variables, labels, and goto statements in constexpr functions | |
202207L | (C++23) | Relaxing some constexpr restrictions | |
202211L | (C++23) | Permitting static constexpr variables in constexpr functions | |
202306L | (C++26) | Constexpr cast from void*: towards constexpr type-erasure | |
__cpp_constexpr_in_decltype |
201711L | (C++11) (DR) |
Generation of function and variable definitions when needed for constant evaluation |
__cpp_constexpr_dynamic_alloc |
201907L | (C++20) | Operations for dynamic storage duration in constexpr functions |
Keywords
Example
Defines C++11/14 constexpr functions that compute factorials; defines a literal type that extends string literals:
#include <iostream> #include <stdexcept> // C++11 constexpr functions use recursion rather than iteration constexpr int factorial(int n) { return n <= 1 ? 1 : (n * factorial(n - 1)); } // C++14 constexpr functions may use local variables and loops #if __cplusplus >= 201402L constexpr int factorial_cxx14(int n) { int res = 1; while (n > 1) res *= n--; return res; } #endif // C++14 // A literal class class conststr { const char* p; std::size_t sz; public: template<std::size_t N> constexpr conststr(const char(&a)[N]): p(a), sz(N - 1) {} // constexpr functions signal errors by throwing exceptions // in C++11, they must do so from the conditional operator ?: constexpr char operator[](std::size_t n) const { return n < sz ? p[n] : throw std::out_of_range(""); } constexpr std::size_t size() const { return sz; } }; // C++11 constexpr functions had to put everything in a single return statement // (C++14 does not have that requirement) constexpr std::size_t countlower(conststr s, std::size_t n = 0, std::size_t c = 0) { return n == s.size() ? c : 'a' <= s[n] && s[n] <= 'z' ? countlower(s, n + 1, c + 1) : countlower(s, n + 1, c); } // An output function that requires a compile-time constant, for testing template<int n> struct constN { constN() { std::cout << n << '\n'; } }; int main() { std::cout << "4! = "; constN<factorial(4)> out1; // computed at compile time volatile int k = 8; // disallow optimization using volatile std::cout << k << "! = " << factorial(k) << '\n'; // computed at run time std::cout << "The number of lowercase letters in \"Hello, world!\" is "; constN<countlower("Hello, world!")> out2; // implicitly converted to conststr constexpr int a[12] = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}; constexpr int length_a = sizeof a / sizeof(int); // std::size(a) in C++17, // std::ssize(a) in C++20 std::cout << "Array of length " << length_a << " has elements: "; for (int i = 0; i < length_a; ++i) std::cout << a[i] << ' '; std::cout << '\n'; }
Output:
4! = 24 8! = 40320 The number of lowercase letters in "Hello, world!" is 9 Array of length 12 has elements: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 0 0
Defect reports
The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to previously published C++ standards.
DR | Applied to | Behavior as published | Correct behavior |
---|---|---|---|
CWG 1712 | C++14 | a constexpr variable template was required to have all its declarations contain the constexpr specifier (it is redundant because there cannot be more than one declaration of a variable template with the constexpr specifier) |
not required anymore |
CWG 1911 | C++11 | constexpr constructors for non-literal types were not allowed | allowed in constant initialization |
CWG 2004 | C++11 | copy/move of a union with a mutable member was allowed in a constant expression |
mutable variants disqualify implicit copy/move |
CWG 2163 | C++14 | labels were allowed in constexpr functions even though gotos are prohibited |
labels also prohibited |
CWG 2268 | C++11 | copy/move of a union with a mutable member was prohibited by the resolution of CWG issue 2004 |
allowed if the object is created within the constant expression |
See also
constant expression | defines an expression that can be evaluated at compile time |
consteval specifier(C++20)
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specifies that a function is an immediate function, that is, every call to the function must be in a constant evaluation |
constinit specifier(C++20)
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asserts that a variable has static initialization, i.e. zero initialization and constant initialization |
C documentation for constexpr
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