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INFO-DIR-SECTION Programming
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* gcc: (gcc).                  The GNU Compiler Collection.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
   This file documents the use of the GNU compilers.

   Published by the Free Software Foundation
59 Temple Place - Suite 330
Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

   Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998,
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

   Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
Invariant Sections being "GNU General Public License" and "Funding Free
Software", the Front-Cover texts being (a) (see below), and with the
Back-Cover Texts being (b) (see below).  A copy of the license is
included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

   (a) The FSF's Front-Cover Text is:

   A GNU Manual

   (b) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is:

   You have freedom to copy and modify this GNU Manual, like GNU
software.  Copies published by the Free Software Foundation raise
funds for GNU development.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Pragmas,  Next: Unnamed Fields,  Prev: Target Builtins,  Up: C Extensions

Pragmas Accepted by GCC
=======================

   GCC supports several types of pragmas, primarily in order to compile
code originally written for other compilers.  Note that in general we
do not recommend the use of pragmas; *Note Function Attributes::, for
further explanation.

* Menu:

* ARM Pragmas::
* Darwin Pragmas::
* Solaris Pragmas::
* Tru64 Pragmas::


File: gcc.info,  Node: ARM Pragmas,  Next: Darwin Pragmas,  Up: Pragmas

ARM Pragmas
-----------

   The ARM target defines pragmas for controlling the default addition
of `long_call' and `short_call' attributes to functions.  *Note
Function Attributes::, for information about the effects of these
attributes.

`long_calls'
     Set all subsequent functions to have the `long_call' attribute.

`no_long_calls'
     Set all subsequent functions to have the `short_call' attribute.

`long_calls_off'
     Do not affect the `long_call' or `short_call' attributes of
     subsequent functions.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Darwin Pragmas,  Next: Solaris Pragmas,  Prev: ARM Pragmas,  Up: Pragmas

Darwin Pragmas
--------------

   The following pragmas are available for all architectures running the
Darwin operating system.  These are useful for compatibility with other
MacOS compilers.

`mark TOKENS...'
     This pragma is accepted, but has no effect.

`options align=ALIGNMENT'
     This pragma sets the alignment of fields in structures.  The
     values of ALIGNMENT may be `mac68k', to emulate m68k alignment, or
     `power', to emulate PowerPC alignment.  Uses of this pragma nest
     properly; to restore the previous setting, use `reset' for the
     ALIGNMENT.

`segment TOKENS...'
     This pragma is accepted, but has no effect.

`unused (VAR [, VAR]...)'
     This pragma declares variables to be possibly unused.  GCC will not
     produce warnings for the listed variables.  The effect is similar
     to that of the `unused' attribute, except that this pragma may
     appear anywhere within the variables' scopes.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Solaris Pragmas,  Next: Tru64 Pragmas,  Prev: Darwin Pragmas,  Up: Pragmas

Solaris Pragmas
---------------

   For compatibility with the SunPRO compiler, the following pragma is
supported.

`redefine_extname OLDNAME NEWNAME'
     This pragma gives the C function OLDNAME the assembler label
     NEWNAME.  The pragma must appear before the function declaration.
     This pragma is equivalent to the asm labels extension (*note Asm
     Labels::).  The preprocessor defines `__PRAGMA_REDEFINE_EXTNAME'
     if the pragma is available.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Tru64 Pragmas,  Prev: Solaris Pragmas,  Up: Pragmas

Tru64 Pragmas
-------------

   For compatibility with the Compaq C compiler, the following pragma
is supported.

`extern_prefix STRING'
     This pragma renames all subsequent function and variable
     declarations such that STRING is prepended to the name.  This
     effect may be terminated by using another `extern_prefix' pragma
     with the empty string.

     This pragma is similar in intent to to the asm labels extension
     (*note Asm Labels::) in that the system programmer wants to change
     the assembly-level ABI without changing the source-level API.  The
     preprocessor defines `__PRAGMA_EXTERN_PREFIX' if the pragma is
     available.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Unnamed Fields,  Prev: Pragmas,  Up: C Extensions

Unnamed struct/union fields within structs/unions.
==================================================

   For compatibility with other compilers, GCC allows you to define a
structure or union that contains, as fields, structures and unions
without names.  For example:

     struct {
       int a;
       union {
         int b;
         float c;
       };
       int d;
     } foo;

   In this example, the user would be able to access members of the
unnamed union with code like `foo.b'.  Note that only unnamed structs
and unions are allowed, you may not have, for example, an unnamed `int'.

   You must never create such structures that cause ambiguous field
definitions.  For example, this structure:

     struct {
       int a;
       struct {
         int a;
       };
     } foo;

   It is ambiguous which `a' is being referred to with `foo.a'.  Such
constructs are not supported and must be avoided.  In the future, such
constructs may be detected and treated as compilation errors.


File: gcc.info,  Node: C++ Extensions,  Next: Objective-C,  Prev: C Extensions,  Up: Top

Extensions to the C++ Language
******************************

   The GNU compiler provides these extensions to the C++ language (and
you can also use most of the C language extensions in your C++
programs).  If you want to write code that checks whether these
features are available, you can test for the GNU compiler the same way
as for C programs: check for a predefined macro `__GNUC__'.  You can
also use `__GNUG__' to test specifically for GNU C++ (*note Standard
Predefined Macros: (cpp.info)Standard Predefined.).

* Menu:

* Min and Max::		C++ Minimum and maximum operators.
* Volatiles::		What constitutes an access to a volatile object.
* Restricted Pointers:: C99 restricted pointers and references.
* Vague Linkage::       Where G++ puts inlines, vtables and such.
* C++ Interface::       You can use a single C++ header file for both
                        declarations and definitions.
* Template Instantiation:: Methods for ensuring that exactly one copy of
                        each needed template instantiation is emitted.
* Bound member functions:: You can extract a function pointer to the
                        method denoted by a `->*' or `.*' expression.
* C++ Attributes::      Variable, function, and type attributes for C++ only.
* Java Exceptions::     Tweaking exception handling to work with Java.
* Deprecated Features:: Things might disappear from g++.
* Backwards Compatibility:: Compatibilities with earlier definitions of C++.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Min and Max,  Next: Volatiles,  Up: C++ Extensions

Minimum and Maximum Operators in C++
====================================

   It is very convenient to have operators which return the "minimum"
or the "maximum" of two arguments.  In GNU C++ (but not in GNU C),

`A <? B'
     is the "minimum", returning the smaller of the numeric values A
     and B;

`A >? B'
     is the "maximum", returning the larger of the numeric values A and
     B.

   These operations are not primitive in ordinary C++, since you can
use a macro to return the minimum of two things in C++, as in the
following example.

     #define MIN(X,Y) ((X) < (Y) ? : (X) : (Y))

You might then use `int min = MIN (i, j);' to set MIN to the minimum
value of variables I and J.

   However, side effects in `X' or `Y' may cause unintended behavior.
For example, `MIN (i++, j++)' will fail, incrementing the smaller
counter twice.  The GNU C `typeof' extension allows you to write safe
macros that avoid this kind of problem (*note Typeof::).  However,
writing `MIN' and `MAX' as macros also forces you to use function-call
notation for a fundamental arithmetic operation.  Using GNU C++
extensions, you can write `int min = i <? j;' instead.

   Since `<?' and `>?' are built into the compiler, they properly
handle expressions with side-effects;  `int min = i++ <? j++;' works
correctly.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Volatiles,  Next: Restricted Pointers,  Prev: Min and Max,  Up: C++ Extensions

When is a Volatile Object Accessed?
===================================

   Both the C and C++ standard have the concept of volatile objects.
These are normally accessed by pointers and used for accessing
hardware.  The standards encourage compilers to refrain from
optimizations concerning accesses to volatile objects that it might
perform on non-volatile objects.  The C standard leaves it
implementation defined as to what constitutes a volatile access.  The
C++ standard omits to specify this, except to say that C++ should
behave in a similar manner to C with respect to volatiles, where
possible.  The minimum either standard specifies is that at a sequence
point all previous accesses to volatile objects have stabilized and no
subsequent accesses have occurred.  Thus an implementation is free to
reorder and combine volatile accesses which occur between sequence
points, but cannot do so for accesses across a sequence point.  The use
of volatiles does not allow you to violate the restriction on updating
objects multiple times within a sequence point.

   In most expressions, it is intuitively obvious what is a read and
what is a write.  For instance

     volatile int *dst = SOMEVALUE;
     volatile int *src = SOMEOTHERVALUE;
     *dst = *src;

will cause a read of the volatile object pointed to by SRC and stores
the value into the volatile object pointed to by DST.  There is no
guarantee that these reads and writes are atomic, especially for objects
larger than `int'.

   Less obvious expressions are where something which looks like an
access is used in a void context.  An example would be,

     volatile int *src = SOMEVALUE;
     *src;

   With C, such expressions are rvalues, and as rvalues cause a read of
the object, GCC interprets this as a read of the volatile being pointed
to.  The C++ standard specifies that such expressions do not undergo
lvalue to rvalue conversion, and that the type of the dereferenced
object may be incomplete.  The C++ standard does not specify explicitly
that it is this lvalue to rvalue conversion which is responsible for
causing an access.  However, there is reason to believe that it is,
because otherwise certain simple expressions become undefined.  However,
because it would surprise most programmers, G++ treats dereferencing a
pointer to volatile object of complete type in a void context as a read
of the object.  When the object has incomplete type, G++ issues a
warning.

     struct S;
     struct T {int m;};
     volatile S *ptr1 = SOMEVALUE;
     volatile T *ptr2 = SOMEVALUE;
     *ptr1;
     *ptr2;

   In this example, a warning is issued for `*ptr1', and `*ptr2' causes
a read of the object pointed to.  If you wish to force an error on the
first case, you must force a conversion to rvalue with, for instance a
static cast, `static_cast<S>(*ptr1)'.

   When using a reference to volatile, G++ does not treat equivalent
expressions as accesses to volatiles, but instead issues a warning that
no volatile is accessed.  The rationale for this is that otherwise it
becomes difficult to determine where volatile access occur, and not
possible to ignore the return value from functions returning volatile
references.  Again, if you wish to force a read, cast the reference to
an rvalue.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Restricted Pointers,  Next: Vague Linkage,  Prev: Volatiles,  Up: C++ Extensions

Restricting Pointer Aliasing
============================

   As with gcc, g++ understands the C99 feature of restricted pointers,
specified with the `__restrict__', or `__restrict' type qualifier.
Because you cannot compile C++ by specifying the `-std=c99' language
flag, `restrict' is not a keyword in C++.

   In addition to allowing restricted pointers, you can specify
restricted references, which indicate that the reference is not aliased
in the local context.

     void fn (int *__restrict__ rptr, int &__restrict__ rref)
     {
       ...
     }

In the body of `fn', RPTR points to an unaliased integer and RREF
refers to a (different) unaliased integer.

   You may also specify whether a member function's THIS pointer is
unaliased by using `__restrict__' as a member function qualifier.

     void T::fn () __restrict__
     {
       ...
     }

Within the body of `T::fn', THIS will have the effective definition `T
*__restrict__ const this'.  Notice that the interpretation of a
`__restrict__' member function qualifier is different to that of
`const' or `volatile' qualifier, in that it is applied to the pointer
rather than the object.  This is consistent with other compilers which
implement restricted pointers.

   As with all outermost parameter qualifiers, `__restrict__' is
ignored in function definition matching.  This means you only need to
specify `__restrict__' in a function definition, rather than in a
function prototype as well.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Vague Linkage,  Next: C++ Interface,  Prev: Restricted Pointers,  Up: C++ Extensions

Vague Linkage
=============

   There are several constructs in C++ which require space in the object
file but are not clearly tied to a single translation unit.  We say that
these constructs have "vague linkage".  Typically such constructs are
emitted wherever they are needed, though sometimes we can be more
clever.

Inline Functions
     Inline functions are typically defined in a header file which can
     be included in many different compilations.  Hopefully they can
     usually be inlined, but sometimes an out-of-line copy is
     necessary, if the address of the function is taken or if inlining
     fails.  In general, we emit an out-of-line copy in all translation
     units where one is needed.  As an exception, we only emit inline
     virtual functions with the vtable, since it will always require a
     copy.

     Local static variables and string constants used in an inline
     function are also considered to have vague linkage, since they
     must be shared between all inlined and out-of-line instances of
     the function.

VTables
     C++ virtual functions are implemented in most compilers using a
     lookup table, known as a vtable.  The vtable contains pointers to
     the virtual functions provided by a class, and each object of the
     class contains a pointer to its vtable (or vtables, in some
     multiple-inheritance situations).  If the class declares any
     non-inline, non-pure virtual functions, the first one is chosen as
     the "key method" for the class, and the vtable is only emitted in
     the translation unit where the key method is defined.

     _Note:_ If the chosen key method is later defined as inline, the
     vtable will still be emitted in every translation unit which
     defines it.  Make sure that any inline virtuals are declared
     inline in the class body, even if they are not defined there.

type_info objects
     C++ requires information about types to be written out in order to
     implement `dynamic_cast', `typeid' and exception handling.  For
     polymorphic classes (classes with virtual functions), the type_info
     object is written out along with the vtable so that `dynamic_cast'
     can determine the dynamic type of a class object at runtime.  For
     all other types, we write out the type_info object when it is
     used: when applying `typeid' to an expression, throwing an object,
     or referring to a type in a catch clause or exception
     specification.

Template Instantiations
     Most everything in this section also applies to template
     instantiations, but there are other options as well.  *Note
     Where's the Template?: Template Instantiation.


   When used with GNU ld version 2.8 or later on an ELF system such as
Linux/GNU or Solaris 2, or on Microsoft Windows, duplicate copies of
these constructs will be discarded at link time.  This is known as
COMDAT support.

   On targets that don't support COMDAT, but do support weak symbols,
GCC will use them.  This way one copy will override all the others, but
the unused copies will still take up space in the executable.

   For targets which do not support either COMDAT or weak symbols, most
entities with vague linkage will be emitted as local symbols to avoid
duplicate definition errors from the linker.  This will not happen for
local statics in inlines, however, as having multiple copies will
almost certainly break things.

   *Note Declarations and Definitions in One Header: C++ Interface, for
another way to control placement of these constructs.


File: gcc.info,  Node: C++ Interface,  Next: Template Instantiation,  Prev: Vague Linkage,  Up: C++ Extensions

Declarations and Definitions in One Header
==========================================

   C++ object definitions can be quite complex.  In principle, your
source code will need two kinds of things for each object that you use
across more than one source file.  First, you need an "interface"
specification, describing its structure with type declarations and
function prototypes.  Second, you need the "implementation" itself.  It
can be tedious to maintain a separate interface description in a header
file, in parallel to the actual implementation.  It is also dangerous,
since separate interface and implementation definitions may not remain
parallel.

   With GNU C++, you can use a single header file for both purposes.

     _Warning:_ The mechanism to specify this is in transition.  For the
     nonce, you must use one of two `#pragma' commands; in a future
     release of GNU C++, an alternative mechanism will make these
     `#pragma' commands unnecessary.

   The header file contains the full definitions, but is marked with
`#pragma interface' in the source code.  This allows the compiler to
use the header file only as an interface specification when ordinary
source files incorporate it with `#include'.  In the single source file
where the full implementation belongs, you can use either a naming
convention or `#pragma implementation' to indicate this alternate use
of the header file.

`#pragma interface'
`#pragma interface "SUBDIR/OBJECTS.h"'
     Use this directive in _header files_ that define object classes,
     to save space in most of the object files that use those classes.
     Normally, local copies of certain information (backup copies of
     inline member functions, debugging information, and the internal
     tables that implement virtual functions) must be kept in each
     object file that includes class definitions.  You can use this
     pragma to avoid such duplication.  When a header file containing
     `#pragma interface' is included in a compilation, this auxiliary
     information will not be generated (unless the main input source
     file itself uses `#pragma implementation').  Instead, the object
     files will contain references to be resolved at link time.

     The second form of this directive is useful for the case where you
     have multiple headers with the same name in different directories.
     If you use this form, you must specify the same string to `#pragma
     implementation'.

`#pragma implementation'
`#pragma implementation "OBJECTS.h"'
     Use this pragma in a _main input file_, when you want full output
     from included header files to be generated (and made globally
     visible).  The included header file, in turn, should use `#pragma
     interface'.  Backup copies of inline member functions, debugging
     information, and the internal tables used to implement virtual
     functions are all generated in implementation files.

     If you use `#pragma implementation' with no argument, it applies to
     an include file with the same basename(1) as your source file.
     For example, in `allclass.cc', giving just `#pragma implementation'
     by itself is equivalent to `#pragma implementation "allclass.h"'.

     In versions of GNU C++ prior to 2.6.0 `allclass.h' was treated as
     an implementation file whenever you would include it from
     `allclass.cc' even if you never specified `#pragma
     implementation'.  This was deemed to be more trouble than it was
     worth, however, and disabled.

     If you use an explicit `#pragma implementation', it must appear in
     your source file _before_ you include the affected header files.

     Use the string argument if you want a single implementation file to
     include code from multiple header files.  (You must also use
     `#include' to include the header file; `#pragma implementation'
     only specifies how to use the file--it doesn't actually include
     it.)

     There is no way to split up the contents of a single header file
     into multiple implementation files.

   `#pragma implementation' and `#pragma interface' also have an effect
on function inlining.

   If you define a class in a header file marked with `#pragma
interface', the effect on a function defined in that class is similar to
an explicit `extern' declaration--the compiler emits no code at all to
define an independent version of the function.  Its definition is used
only for inlining with its callers.

   Conversely, when you include the same header file in a main source
file that declares it as `#pragma implementation', the compiler emits
code for the function itself; this defines a version of the function
that can be found via pointers (or by callers compiled without
inlining).  If all calls to the function can be inlined, you can avoid
emitting the function by compiling with `-fno-implement-inlines'.  If
any calls were not inlined, you will get linker errors.

   ---------- Footnotes ----------

   (1) A file's "basename" was the name stripped of all leading path
information and of trailing suffixes, such as `.h' or `.C' or `.cc'.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Template Instantiation,  Next: Bound member functions,  Prev: C++ Interface,  Up: C++ Extensions

Where's the Template?
=====================

   C++ templates are the first language feature to require more
intelligence from the environment than one usually finds on a UNIX
system.  Somehow the compiler and linker have to make sure that each
template instance occurs exactly once in the executable if it is needed,
and not at all otherwise.  There are two basic approaches to this
problem, which I will refer to as the Borland model and the Cfront
model.

Borland model
     Borland C++ solved the template instantiation problem by adding
     the code equivalent of common blocks to their linker; the compiler
     emits template instances in each translation unit that uses them,
     and the linker collapses them together.  The advantage of this
     model is that the linker only has to consider the object files
     themselves; there is no external complexity to worry about.  This
     disadvantage is that compilation time is increased because the
     template code is being compiled repeatedly.  Code written for this
     model tends to include definitions of all templates in the header
     file, since they must be seen to be instantiated.

Cfront model
     The AT&T C++ translator, Cfront, solved the template instantiation
     problem by creating the notion of a template repository, an
     automatically maintained place where template instances are
     stored.  A more modern version of the repository works as follows:
     As individual object files are built, the compiler places any
     template definitions and instantiations encountered in the
     repository.  At link time, the link wrapper adds in the objects in
     the repository and compiles any needed instances that were not
     previously emitted.  The advantages of this model are more optimal
     compilation speed and the ability to use the system linker; to
     implement the Borland model a compiler vendor also needs to
     replace the linker.  The disadvantages are vastly increased
     complexity, and thus potential for error; for some code this can be
     just as transparent, but in practice it can been very difficult to
     build multiple programs in one directory and one program in
     multiple directories.  Code written for this model tends to
     separate definitions of non-inline member templates into a
     separate file, which should be compiled separately.

   When used with GNU ld version 2.8 or later on an ELF system such as
Linux/GNU or Solaris 2, or on Microsoft Windows, g++ supports the
Borland model.  On other systems, g++ implements neither automatic
model.

   A future version of g++ will support a hybrid model whereby the
compiler will emit any instantiations for which the template definition
is included in the compile, and store template definitions and
instantiation context information into the object file for the rest.
The link wrapper will extract that information as necessary and invoke
the compiler to produce the remaining instantiations.  The linker will
then combine duplicate instantiations.

   In the mean time, you have the following options for dealing with
template instantiations:

  1. Compile your template-using code with `-frepo'.  The compiler will
     generate files with the extension `.rpo' listing all of the
     template instantiations used in the corresponding object files
     which could be instantiated there; the link wrapper, `collect2',
     will then update the `.rpo' files to tell the compiler where to
     place those instantiations and rebuild any affected object files.
     The link-time overhead is negligible after the first pass, as the
     compiler will continue to place the instantiations in the same
     files.

     This is your best option for application code written for the
     Borland model, as it will just work.  Code written for the Cfront
     model will need to be modified so that the template definitions
     are available at one or more points of instantiation; usually this
     is as simple as adding `#include <tmethods.cc>' to the end of each
     template header.

     For library code, if you want the library to provide all of the
     template instantiations it needs, just try to link all of its
     object files together; the link will fail, but cause the
     instantiations to be generated as a side effect.  Be warned,
     however, that this may cause conflicts if multiple libraries try
     to provide the same instantiations.  For greater control, use
     explicit instantiation as described in the next option.

  2. Compile your code with `-fno-implicit-templates' to disable the
     implicit generation of template instances, and explicitly
     instantiate all the ones you use.  This approach requires more
     knowledge of exactly which instances you need than do the others,
     but it's less mysterious and allows greater control.  You can
     scatter the explicit instantiations throughout your program,
     perhaps putting them in the translation units where the instances
     are used or the translation units that define the templates
     themselves; you can put all of the explicit instantiations you
     need into one big file; or you can create small files like

          #include "Foo.h"
          #include "Foo.cc"
          
          template class Foo<int>;
          template ostream& operator <<
                          (ostream&, const Foo<int>&);

     for each of the instances you need, and create a template
     instantiation library from those.

     If you are using Cfront-model code, you can probably get away with
     not using `-fno-implicit-templates' when compiling files that don't
     `#include' the member template definitions.

     If you use one big file to do the instantiations, you may want to
     compile it without `-fno-implicit-templates' so you get all of the
     instances required by your explicit instantiations (but not by any
     other files) without having to specify them as well.

     g++ has extended the template instantiation syntax outlined in the
     Working Paper to allow forward declaration of explicit
     instantiations (with `extern'), instantiation of the compiler
     support data for a template class (i.e. the vtable) without
     instantiating any of its members (with `inline'), and
     instantiation of only the static data members of a template class,
     without the support data or member functions (with (`static'):

          extern template int max (int, int);
          inline template class Foo<int>;
          static template class Foo<int>;

  3. Do nothing.  Pretend g++ does implement automatic instantiation
     management.  Code written for the Borland model will work fine, but
     each translation unit will contain instances of each of the
     templates it uses.  In a large program, this can lead to an
     unacceptable amount of code duplication.

  4. Add `#pragma interface' to all files containing template
     definitions.  For each of these files, add `#pragma implementation
     "FILENAME"' to the top of some `.C' file which `#include's it.
     Then compile everything with `-fexternal-templates'.  The
     templates will then only be expanded in the translation unit which
     implements them (i.e. has a `#pragma implementation' line for the
     file where they live); all other files will use external
     references.  If you're lucky, everything should work properly.  If
     you get undefined symbol errors, you need to make sure that each
     template instance which is used in the program is used in the file
     which implements that template.  If you don't have any use for a
     particular instance in that file, you can just instantiate it
     explicitly, using the syntax from the latest C++ working paper:

          template class A<int>;
          template ostream& operator << (ostream&, const A<int>&);

     This strategy will work with code written for either model.  If
     you are using code written for the Cfront model, the file
     containing a class template and the file containing its member
     templates should be implemented in the same translation unit.

  5. A slight variation on this approach is to use the flag
     `-falt-external-templates' instead.  This flag causes template
     instances to be emitted in the translation unit that implements the
     header where they are first instantiated, rather than the one which
     implements the file where the templates are defined.  This header
     must be the same in all translation units, or things are likely to
     break.

     *Note Declarations and Definitions in One Header: C++ Interface,
     for more discussion of these pragmas.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Bound member functions,  Next: C++ Attributes,  Prev: Template Instantiation,  Up: C++ Extensions

Extracting the function pointer from a bound pointer to member function
=======================================================================

   In C++, pointer to member functions (PMFs) are implemented using a
wide pointer of sorts to handle all the possible call mechanisms; the
PMF needs to store information about how to adjust the `this' pointer,
and if the function pointed to is virtual, where to find the vtable, and
where in the vtable to look for the member function.  If you are using
PMFs in an inner loop, you should really reconsider that decision.  If
that is not an option, you can extract the pointer to the function that
would be called for a given object/PMF pair and call it directly inside
the inner loop, to save a bit of time.

   Note that you will still be paying the penalty for the call through a
function pointer; on most modern architectures, such a call defeats the
branch prediction features of the CPU.  This is also true of normal
virtual function calls.

   The syntax for this extension is

     extern A a;
     extern int (A::*fp)();
     typedef int (*fptr)(A *);
     
     fptr p = (fptr)(a.*fp);

   For PMF constants (i.e. expressions of the form `&Klasse::Member'),
no object is needed to obtain the address of the function.  They can be
converted to function pointers directly:

     fptr p1 = (fptr)(&A::foo);

   You must specify `-Wno-pmf-conversions' to use this extension.


File: gcc.info,  Node: C++ Attributes,  Next: Java Exceptions,  Prev: Bound member functions,  Up: C++ Extensions

C++-Specific Variable, Function, and Type Attributes
====================================================

   Some attributes only make sense for C++ programs.

`init_priority (PRIORITY)'
     In Standard C++, objects defined at namespace scope are guaranteed
     to be initialized in an order in strict accordance with that of
     their definitions _in a given translation unit_.  No guarantee is
     made for initializations across translation units.  However, GNU
     C++ allows users to control the order of initialization of objects
     defined at namespace scope with the `init_priority' attribute by
     specifying a relative PRIORITY, a constant integral expression
     currently bounded between 101 and 65535 inclusive.  Lower numbers
     indicate a higher priority.

     In the following example, `A' would normally be created before
     `B', but the `init_priority' attribute has reversed that order:

          Some_Class  A  __attribute__ ((init_priority (2000)));
          Some_Class  B  __attribute__ ((init_priority (543)));

     Note that the particular values of PRIORITY do not matter; only
     their relative ordering.

`java_interface'
     This type attribute informs C++ that the class is a Java
     interface.  It may only be applied to classes declared within an
     `extern "Java"' block.  Calls to methods declared in this
     interface will be dispatched using GCJ's interface table
     mechanism, instead of regular virtual table dispatch.



File: gcc.info,  Node: Java Exceptions,  Next: Deprecated Features,  Prev: C++ Attributes,  Up: C++ Extensions

Java Exceptions
===============

   The Java language uses a slightly different exception handling model
from C++.  Normally, GNU C++ will automatically detect when you are
writing C++ code that uses Java exceptions, and handle them
appropriately.  However, if C++ code only needs to execute destructors
when Java exceptions are thrown through it, GCC will guess incorrectly.
Sample problematic code is:

       struct S { ~S(); };
       extern void bar();    // is written in Java, and may throw exceptions
       void foo()
       {
         S s;
         bar();
       }

The usual effect of an incorrect guess is a link failure, complaining of
a missing routine called `__gxx_personality_v0'.

   You can inform the compiler that Java exceptions are to be used in a
translation unit, irrespective of what it might think, by writing
`#pragma GCC java_exceptions' at the head of the file.  This `#pragma'
must appear before any functions that throw or catch exceptions, or run
destructors when exceptions are thrown through them.

   You cannot mix Java and C++ exceptions in the same translation unit.
It is believed to be safe to throw a C++ exception from one file
through another file compiled for the Java exception model, or vice
versa, but there may be bugs in this area.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Deprecated Features,  Next: Backwards Compatibility,  Prev: Java Exceptions,  Up: C++ Extensions

Deprecated Features
===================

   In the past, the GNU C++ compiler was extended to experiment with new
features, at a time when the C++ language was still evolving.  Now that
the C++ standard is complete, some of those features are superseded by
superior alternatives.  Using the old features might cause a warning in
some cases that the feature will be dropped in the future.  In other
cases, the feature might be gone already.

   While the list below is not exhaustive, it documents some of the
options that are now deprecated:

`-fexternal-templates'
`-falt-external-templates'
     These are two of the many ways for g++ to implement template
     instantiation.  *Note Template Instantiation::.  The C++ standard
     clearly defines how template definitions have to be organized
     across implementation units.  g++ has an implicit instantiation
     mechanism that should work just fine for standard-conforming code.

`-fstrict-prototype'
`-fno-strict-prototype'
     Previously it was possible to use an empty prototype parameter
     list to indicate an unspecified number of parameters (like C),
     rather than no parameters, as C++ demands.  This feature has been
     removed, except where it is required for backwards compatibility
     *Note Backwards Compatibility::.

   The named return value extension has been deprecated, and is now
removed from g++.

   The use of initializer lists with new expressions has been
deprecated, and is now removed from g++.

   Floating and complex non-type template parameters have been
deprecated, and are now removed from g++.

   The implicit typename extension has been deprecated and will be
removed from g++ at some point.  In some cases g++ determines that a
dependant type such as `TPL<T>::X' is a type without needing a
`typename' keyword, contrary to the standard.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Backwards Compatibility,  Prev: Deprecated Features,  Up: C++ Extensions

Backwards Compatibility
=======================

   Now that there is a definitive ISO standard C++, G++ has a
specification to adhere to.  The C++ language evolved over time, and
features that used to be acceptable in previous drafts of the standard,
such as the ARM [Annotated C++ Reference Manual], are no longer
accepted.  In order to allow compilation of C++ written to such drafts,
G++ contains some backwards compatibilities.  _All such backwards
compatibility features are liable to disappear in future versions of
G++._ They should be considered deprecated *Note Deprecated Features::.

`For scope'
     If a variable is declared at for scope, it used to remain in scope
     until the end of the scope which contained the for statement
     (rather than just within the for scope).  G++ retains this, but
     issues a warning, if such a variable is accessed outside the for
     scope.

`Implicit C language'
     Old C system header files did not contain an `extern "C" {...}'
     scope to set the language.  On such systems, all header files are
     implicitly scoped inside a C language scope.  Also, an empty
     prototype `()' will be treated as an unspecified number of
     arguments, rather than no arguments, as C++ demands.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Objective-C,  Next: Compatibility,  Prev: C++ Extensions,  Up: Top

GNU Objective-C runtime features
********************************

   This document is meant to describe some of the GNU Objective-C
runtime features.  It is not intended to teach you Objective-C, there
are several resources on the Internet that present the language.
Questions and comments about this document to Ovidiu Predescu
<ovidiu@cup.hp.com>.

* Menu:

* Executing code before main::
* Type encoding::
* Garbage Collection::
* Constant string objects::
* compatibility_alias::


File: gcc.info,  Node: Executing code before main,  Next: Type encoding,  Prev: Objective-C,  Up: Objective-C

`+load': Executing code before main
===================================

   The GNU Objective-C runtime provides a way that allows you to execute
code before the execution of the program enters the `main' function.
The code is executed on a per-class and a per-category basis, through a
special class method `+load'.

   This facility is very useful if you want to initialize global
variables which can be accessed by the program directly, without
sending a message to the class first.  The usual way to initialize
global variables, in the `+initialize' method, might not be useful
because `+initialize' is only called when the first message is sent to a
class object, which in some cases could be too late.

   Suppose for example you have a `FileStream' class that declares
`Stdin', `Stdout' and `Stderr' as global variables, like below:


     FileStream *Stdin = nil;
     FileStream *Stdout = nil;
     FileStream *Stderr = nil;
     
     @implementation FileStream
     
     + (void)initialize
     {
         Stdin = [[FileStream new] initWithFd:0];
         Stdout = [[FileStream new] initWithFd:1];
         Stderr = [[FileStream new] initWithFd:2];
     }
     
     /* Other methods here */
     @end

   In this example, the initialization of `Stdin', `Stdout' and
`Stderr' in `+initialize' occurs too late.  The programmer can send a
message to one of these objects before the variables are actually
initialized, thus sending messages to the `nil' object.  The
`+initialize' method which actually initializes the global variables is
not invoked until the first message is sent to the class object.  The
solution would require these variables to be initialized just before
entering `main'.

   The correct solution of the above problem is to use the `+load'
method instead of `+initialize':


     @implementation FileStream
     
     + (void)load
     {
         Stdin = [[FileStream new] initWithFd:0];
         Stdout = [[FileStream new] initWithFd:1];
         Stderr = [[FileStream new] initWithFd:2];
     }
     
     /* Other methods here */
     @end

   The `+load' is a method that is not overridden by categories.  If a
class and a category of it both implement `+load', both methods are
invoked.  This allows some additional initializations to be performed in
a category.

   This mechanism is not intended to be a replacement for `+initialize'.
You should be aware of its limitations when you decide to use it
instead of `+initialize'.

* Menu:

* What you can and what you cannot do in +load::


File: gcc.info,  Node: What you can and what you cannot do in +load,  Prev: Executing code before main,  Up: Executing code before main

What you can and what you cannot do in `+load'
----------------------------------------------

   The `+load' implementation in the GNU runtime guarantees you the
following things:

   * you can write whatever C code you like;

   * you can send messages to Objective-C constant strings (`@"this is a
     constant string"');

   * you can allocate and send messages to objects whose class is
     implemented in the same file;

   * the `+load' implementation of all super classes of a class are
     executed before the `+load' of that class is executed;

   * the `+load' implementation of a class is executed before the
     `+load' implementation of any category.


   In particular, the following things, even if they can work in a
particular case, are not guaranteed:

   * allocation of or sending messages to arbitrary objects;

   * allocation of or sending messages to objects whose classes have a
     category implemented in the same file;


   You should make no assumptions about receiving `+load' in sibling
classes when you write `+load' of a class.  The order in which sibling
classes receive `+load' is not guaranteed.

   The order in which `+load' and `+initialize' are called could be
problematic if this matters.  If you don't allocate objects inside
`+load', it is guaranteed that `+load' is called before `+initialize'.
If you create an object inside `+load' the `+initialize' method of
object's class is invoked even if `+load' was not invoked.  Note if you
explicitly call `+load' on a class, `+initialize' will be called first.
To avoid possible problems try to implement only one of these methods.

   The `+load' method is also invoked when a bundle is dynamically
loaded into your running program.  This happens automatically without
any intervening operation from you.  When you write bundles and you
need to write `+load' you can safely create and send messages to
objects whose classes already exist in the running program.  The same
restrictions as above apply to classes defined in bundle.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Type encoding,  Next: Garbage Collection,  Prev: Executing code before main,  Up: Objective-C

Type encoding
=============

   The Objective-C compiler generates type encodings for all the types.
These type encodings are used at runtime to find out information about
selectors and methods and about objects and classes.

   The types are encoded in the following way:

`char'             `c'
`unsigned char'    `C'
`short'            `s'
`unsigned short'   `S'
`int'              `i'
`unsigned int'     `I'
`long'             `l'
`unsigned long'    `L'
`long long'        `q'
`unsigned long     `Q'
long'              
`float'            `f'
`double'           `d'
`void'             `v'
`id'               `@'
`Class'            `#'
`SEL'              `:'
`char*'            `*'
unknown type       `?'
bit-fields         `b' followed by the starting position of the
                   bit-field, the type of the bit-field and the size of
                   the bit-field (the bit-fields encoding was changed
                   from the NeXT's compiler encoding, see below)

   The encoding of bit-fields has changed to allow bit-fields to be
properly handled by the runtime functions that compute sizes and
alignments of types that contain bit-fields.  The previous encoding
contained only the size of the bit-field.  Using only this information
it is not possible to reliably compute the size occupied by the
bit-field.  This is very important in the presence of the Boehm's
garbage collector because the objects are allocated using the typed
memory facility available in this collector.  The typed memory
allocation requires information about where the pointers are located
inside the object.

   The position in the bit-field is the position, counting in bits, of
the bit closest to the beginning of the structure.

   The non-atomic types are encoded as follows:

pointers       `^' followed by the pointed type.
arrays         `[' followed by the number of elements in the array
               followed by the type of the elements followed by `]'
structures     `{' followed by the name of the structure (or `?' if the
               structure is unnamed), the `=' sign, the type of the
               members and by `}'
unions         `(' followed by the name of the structure (or `?' if the
               union is unnamed), the `=' sign, the type of the members
               followed by `)'

   Here are some types and their encodings, as they are generated by the
compiler on an i386 machine:


Objective-C type   Compiler encoding
     int a[10];    `[10i]'
     struct {      `{?=i[3f]b128i3b131i2c}'
       int i;      
       float f[3]; 
       int a:3;    
       int b:2;    
       char c;     
     }             


   In addition to the types the compiler also encodes the type
specifiers.  The table below describes the encoding of the current
Objective-C type specifiers:


Specifier          Encoding
`const'            `r'
`in'               `n'
`inout'            `N'
`out'              `o'
`bycopy'           `O'
`oneway'           `V'


   The type specifiers are encoded just before the type.  Unlike types
however, the type specifiers are only encoded when they appear in method
argument types.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Garbage Collection,  Next: Constant string objects,  Prev: Type encoding,  Up: Objective-C

Garbage Collection
==================

   Support for a new memory management policy has been added by using a
powerful conservative garbage collector, known as the
Boehm-Demers-Weiser conservative garbage collector.  It is available
from `http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Hans_Boehm/gc/'.

   To enable the support for it you have to configure the compiler
using an additional argument, `--enable-objc-gc'.  You need to have
garbage collector installed before building the compiler.  This will
build an additional runtime library which has several enhancements to
support the garbage collector.  The new library has a new name,
`libobjc_gc.a' to not conflict with the non-garbage-collected library.

   When the garbage collector is used, the objects are allocated using
the so-called typed memory allocation mechanism available in the
Boehm-Demers-Weiser collector.  This mode requires precise information
on where pointers are located inside objects.  This information is
computed once per class, immediately after the class has been
initialized.

   There is a new runtime function `class_ivar_set_gcinvisible()' which
can be used to declare a so-called "weak pointer" reference.  Such a
pointer is basically hidden for the garbage collector; this can be
useful in certain situations, especially when you want to keep track of
the allocated objects, yet allow them to be collected.  This kind of
pointers can only be members of objects, you cannot declare a global
pointer as a weak reference.  Every type which is a pointer type can be
declared a weak pointer, including `id', `Class' and `SEL'.

   Here is an example of how to use this feature.  Suppose you want to
implement a class whose instances hold a weak pointer reference; the
following class does this:


     @interface WeakPointer : Object
     {
         const void* weakPointer;
     }
     
     - initWithPointer:(const void*)p;
     - (const void*)weakPointer;
     @end
     
     
     @implementation WeakPointer
     
     + (void)initialize
     {
       class_ivar_set_gcinvisible (self, "weakPointer", YES);
     }
     
     - initWithPointer:(const void*)p
     {
       weakPointer = p;
       return self;
     }
     
     - (const void*)weakPointer
     {
       return weakPointer;
     }
     
     @end

   Weak pointers are supported through a new type character specifier
represented by the `!' character.  The `class_ivar_set_gcinvisible()'
function adds or removes this specifier to the string type description
of the instance variable named as argument.

