static_assert declaration

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Execution support library (C++26)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

C++ language

General topics
Preprocessor Comments	Keywords Escape sequences
Flow control
Conditional execution statements
if	switch
Iteration statements (loops)
for range-for (C++11)	while do-while
Jump statements
continue - break	goto - return
Functions
Function declaration
Lambda function expression
inline specifier
Dynamic exception specifications (until C++17*)
noexcept specifier (C++11)
Exceptions
throw-expression try block	handler
Namespaces
Namespace declaration	Namespace aliases
Types
Fundamental types Enumeration types Function types	Class/struct types Union types
Specifiers
const/volatile decltype (C++11) auto (C++11)	constexpr (C++11) consteval (C++20) constinit (C++20)
Storage duration specifiers
Initialization
Default-initialization Value-initialization Zero-initialization Copy-initialization Direct-initialization	Aggregate initialization List-initialization (C++11)   Constant initialization Reference initialization

Expressions
Value categories Order of evaluation	Operators Operator precedence
Alternative representations
Literals
Boolean - Integer - Floating-point
Character - String - nullptr (C++11)
User-defined (C++11)
Utilities
Attributes (C++11)
Types
typedef declaration
Type alias declaration (C++11)
Casts
Implicit conversions static_cast const_cast	Explicit conversions dynamic_cast reinterpret_cast
Memory allocation
new expression	delete expression
Classes
Class declaration Constructors this pointer	Access specifiers friend specifier
Class-specific function properties
Virtual function override specifier (C++11)   final specifier (C++11)	explicit (C++11) static
Special member functions
Default constructor Copy constructor Move constructor (C++11)	Copy assignment Move assignment (C++11) Destructor
Templates
Class template Function template	Template specialization Parameter packs (C++11)
Miscellaneous
Inline assembly	History of C++

 

Declarations

Overview Declaration syntax decl-specifier-seq Declarator Conflicting declarations Specifiers typedef inline virtual function specifier explicit function specifier friend constexpr (C++11) consteval (C++20) constinit (C++20) Storage class specifiers Translation-unit-local (C++20) class/struct union enum decltype (C++11) auto (C++11) alignas (C++11) constvolatile Pack indexing specifier (C++26)     Elaborated type specifier Attributes (C++11)

Declarators Reference Pointer Array Block declarations Simple-declaration →Structured binding declaration (C++17) Alias declaration (C++11) Namespace alias definition using declaration using directive static_assert declaration (C++11) asm declaration Opaque enum declaration (C++11) Other declarations Namespace definition Function declaration Class template declaration Function template declaration Explicit template instantiation (C++11) Explicit template specialization Linkage specification Attribute declaration (C++11) Empty declaration

 

Performs compile-time assertion checking

Syntax

static_assert ( bool-constexpr , message )		(since C++11)
static_assert ( bool-constexpr )		(since C++17)

Explanation

bool-constexpr	-	a contextually converted constant expression of type bool (until C++23) a expression contextually converted to bool where the conversion is a constant expression (since C++23)
message	-	optional (since C++17)string literal that will appear as compiler error if bool-constexpr is false

A static assert declaration may appear at namespace and block scope (as a block declaration) and inside a class body (as a member declaration).

If bool-constexpr returns true, this declaration has no effect. Otherwise a compile-time error is issued, and the text of message, if any, is included in the diagnostic message.

message can be omitted.

(since C++17)

Built-in conversions are not allowed, except for non-narrowing integral conversions to bool.

(until C++23)

Note

Since message has to be a string literal, it cannot contain dynamic information or even a constant expression that is not a string literal itself. In particular, it cannot contain the name of the template type argument.

Example

Run this code

#include <type_traits>
 
template <class T>
void swap(T& a, T& b)
{
    static_assert(std::is_copy_constructible<T>::value,
                  "Swap requires copying");
    static_assert(std::is_nothrow_copy_constructible<T>::value
               && std::is_nothrow_copy_assignable<T>::value,
                  "Swap requires nothrow copy/assign");
    auto c = b;
    b = a;
    a = c;
}
 
template <class T>
struct data_structure
{
    static_assert(std::is_default_constructible<T>::value,
                  "Data structure requires default-constructible elements");
};
 
struct no_copy
{
    no_copy ( const no_copy& ) = delete;
    no_copy () = default;
};
 
struct no_default
{
    no_default () = delete;
};
 
int main()
{
    int a, b;
    swap(a, b);
 
    no_copy nc_a, nc_b;
    swap(nc_a, nc_b); // 1
 
    data_structure<int> ds_ok;
    data_structure<no_default> ds_error; // 2
}

Possible output:

1: error: static assertion failed: Swap requires copying
2: error: static assertion failed: Data structure requires default-constructible elements

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 2039	C++11	only the expression before conversion is required to be constant	the conversion must also be valid in a constant expression

See also

Type traits (C++11)
#error
assert	aborts the program if the user-specified condition is not true. May be disabled for release builds. (function macro)
C documentation for Static assertion