Source file inclusion

 

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++

 

Preprocessor

#if#ifdef#ifndef#else#elif#elifdef#elifndef#endif (C++23)(C++23)

#define#undef#,## operators

#include__has_include (C++17)

#error#warning (C++23)

#pragma_Pragma (C++11)

#line

 

Includes other source file into current source file at the line immediately after the directive.

Syntax

#include <filename>	(1)
#include "filename"	(2)
__has_include ( " filename " ) __has_include ( < filename > )	(3)	(since C++17)

Any preprocessing tokens (macro constants or expressions) are permitted as arguments to #include and __has_include (since C++17) as long as they expand to a sequence of characters surrounded by < > or " ".

Explanation

1,2) Includes source file, identified by filename into the current source file at the line immediately after the directive. In the case the file is not found, program is ill-formed.

1) Searches for the file in implementation-defined manner. The intent of this syntax is to search for the files under control of the implementation. Typical implementations search only standard include directories. The standard C++ library and the standard C library are implicitly included in these standard include directories. The standard include directories usually can be controlled by the user through compiler options.

2) Searches for the file in implementation-defined manner. The intent of this syntax is to search for the files that are not controlled by the implementation. Typical implementations first search the directory where the current file resides and, only if the file is not found, search the standard include directories as with (1).

3) Preprocessor constant expression that evaluates to 1 if the file name is found and ​0​ if not. The program is ill-formed if the argument would not be a valid argument to the #include directive.

Notes

When a file is included, it is processed by translation phases 1-4, which may include, recursively, expansion of the nested #include directives. To avoid repeated inclusion of the same file and endless recursion when a file includes itself, perhaps transitively, header guards are commonly used: the entire header is wrapped in

#ifndef FOO_H_INCLUDED /* any name uniquely mapped to file name */
#define FOO_H_INCLUDED
// contents of the file are here
#endif

Many compilers also implement the non-standard pragma #pragma once with similar effects: it disables processing of a file if the same file (where file identity is determined in OS-specific way) has already been included.

A __has_include result of 1 only means that a header or source file with the specified name exists. It does not mean that the header or source file, when included, would not cause an error or would contain anything useful. For example, on a C++ implementation that supports both C++14 and C++17 modes (and provides __has_include in its C++14 mode as a conforming extension), __has_include(<optional>) may be 1 in C++14 mode, but actually #include <optional> may cause an error.

Example

Run this code

#if __has_include(<optional>)
#  include <optional>
#  define have_optional 1
#elif __has_include(<experimental/optional>)
#  include <experimental/optional>
#  define have_optional 1
#  define experimental_optional 1
#else
#  define have_optional 0
#endif
 
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    if (have_optional)
        std::cout << "<optional> is present.\n";
 
    int x = 42;
#if have_optional == 1
    std::optional<int> i = x;
#else
    int* i = &x;
#endif
    std::cout << "i = " << *i << '\n';
}

Possible output:

<optional> is present.
i = 42

See also

A list of C++ Standard Library header files

C documentation for Source file inclusion