std::future

 

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Atomic types atomic (C++11) atomic_ref (C++20) atomic_flag (C++11) Initialization of atomic types atomic_init (C++11)(deprecated in C++20) ATOMIC_VAR_INIT (C++11)(deprecated in C++20) ATOMIC_FLAG_INIT (C++11) Memory ordering memory_order (C++11) kill_dependency (C++11) atomic_thread_fence (C++11) atomic_signal_fence (C++11) Free functions for atomic operations atomic_storeatomic_store_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_loadatomic_load_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_exchangeatomic_exchange_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_compare_exchange_weakatomic_compare_exchange_weak_explicitatomic_compare_exchange_strongatomic_compare_exchange_strong_explicit (C++11)(C++11)(C++11)(C++11) atomic_fetch_addatomic_fetch_add_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_fetch_subatomic_fetch_sub_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_fetch_andatomic_fetch_and_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_fetch_oratomic_fetch_or_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_fetch_xoratomic_fetch_xor_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_fetch_maxatomic_fetch_max_explicit (C++26)(C++26) atomic_fetch_minatomic_fetch_min_explicit (C++26)(C++26) atomic_is_lock_free (C++11) atomic_waitatomic_wait_explicit (C++20)(C++20) atomic_notify_one (C++20) atomic_notify_all (C++20) Free functions for atomic flags atomic_flag_test_and_setatomic_flag_test_and_set_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_flag_clearatomic_flag_clear_explicit (C++11)(C++11) atomic_flag_testatomic_flag_test_explicit (C++20)(C++20) atomic_flag_waitatomic_flag_wait_explicit (C++20)(C++20) atomic_flag_notify_one (C++20) atomic_flag_notify_all (C++20)

 

std::future

Member functions

future::future

future::~future

future::operator=

future::share

Getting the result

future::get

State

future::valid

future::wait

future::wait_for

future::wait_until

 

Defined in header <future>
template< class T > class future;	(1)	(since C++11)
template< class T > class future<T&>;	(2)	(since C++11)
template<>          class future<void>;	(3)	(since C++11)

The class template std::future provides a mechanism to access the result of asynchronous operations:

• An asynchronous operation (created via std::async, std::packaged_task, or std::promise) can provide a std::future object to the creator of that asynchronous operation.

• The creator of the asynchronous operation can then use a variety of methods to query, wait for, or extract a value from the std::future. These methods may block if the asynchronous operation has not yet provided a value.

• When the asynchronous operation is ready to send a result to the creator, it can do so by modifying shared state (e.g. std::promise::set_value) that is linked to the creator's std::future.

Note that std::future references shared state that is not shared with any other asynchronous return objects (as opposed to std::shared_future).

Member functions

(constructor)	constructs the future object (public member function of std::{{{1}}})
(destructor)	destructs the future object (public member function)
operator=	moves the future object (public member function)
share	transfers the shared state from *this to a shared_future and returns it (public member function)
Getting the result
get	returns the result (public member function)
State
valid	checks if the future has a shared state (public member function)
wait	waits for the result to become available (public member function)
wait_for	waits for the result, returns if it is not available for the specified timeout duration (public member function)
wait_until	waits for the result, returns if it is not available until specified time point has been reached (public member function)

Example

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <future>
#include <thread>
 
int main()
{
    // future from a packaged_task
    std::packaged_task<int()> task([](){ return 7; }); // wrap the function
    std::future<int> f1 = task.get_future();  // get a future
    std::thread(std::move(task)).detach(); // launch on a thread
 
    // future from an async()
    std::future<int> f2 = std::async(std::launch::async, [](){ return 8; });
 
    // future from a promise
    std::promise<int> p;
    std::future<int> f3 = p.get_future();
    std::thread( [](std::promise<int>& p){ p.set_value_at_thread_exit(9); }, 
                 std::move(p) ).detach();
 
    std::cout << "Waiting..." << std::flush;
    f1.wait();
    f2.wait();
    f3.wait();
    std::cout << "Done!\nResults are: "
              << f1.get() << ' ' << f2.get() << ' ' << f3.get() << '\n';
}

Output:

Waiting...Done!
Results are: 7 8 9

See also

async (C++11)	runs a function asynchronously (potentially in a new thread) and returns a std::future that will hold the result (function template)
shared_future (C++11)	waits for a value (possibly referenced by other futures) that is set asynchronously (class template)