C++ FAQ

Welcome to the C++ Super-FAQ!

What’s “Super” about this FAQ? In part it’s because this is a merger of two great FAQs: Marshall Cline’s C++ FAQs, and Bjarne Stroustrup’s C++ FAQ. And in part it’s because this is a wiki being continuously updated for modern C++. There are some FAQ topics not yet updated; if you spot one, suggest an improvement using the link on the bar for that FAQ.

We would like to gratefully acknowledge Pearson Education (Addison-Wesley), Marshall Cline, Bjarne Stroustrup, Herb Sutter, and Andrei Alexandrescu for launching this FAQ by freely contributing the contents of Marshall Cline’s online C++ FAQ Lite, Bjarne Stroustrup’s online C++ and C++11 FAQs, and in the near future material from their books C++ FAQs Second Edition by Marshall Cline, Greg Lomow, and Mike Girou, and C++ Coding Standards by Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu.

C++ FAQ Sections

Overview Topics

• Big Picture Issues
• Newbie Questions & Answers
• Learning OO/C++
• Coding Standards
• User Groups Worldwide
• Conferences Worldwide
• Community Events Calendar

Starting From Another Language

• Learning C++ if you already know Objective-C
• Learning C++ if you already know C# or Java
• Learning C++ if you already know C
• How to mix C and C++

General Topics

• Built-in / Intrinsic / Primitive Data Types
• Input/output via <iostream> and <cstdio>
• Const Correctness
• References
• Memory Management

Classes and Inheritance

• Classes and Objects
• Constructors
• Destructors
• Assignment Operators
• Operator Overloading
• Friends
• Inheritance — Basics
• Inheritance — virtual functions
• Inheritance — Proper Inheritance and Substitutability
• Inheritance — Abstract Base Classes (ABCs)
• Inheritance — What your mother never told you
• Inheritance — private and protected inheritance
• Inheritance — Multiple and Virtual Inheritance

Beyond Classes

• Templates
• Container Classes
• Class Libraries
• Exceptions and Error Handling
• Reference and Value Semantics
• Inline Functions
• Pointers to Member Functions
• Serialization and Unserialization

C++11

• C++11 Overview
• C++11 Language Extensions — General Features
• C++11 Language Extensions — Classes
• C++11 Language Extensions — Other Types
• C++11 Language Extensions — Templates
• C++11 Language Extensions — Concurrency
• C++11 Language Extensions — Miscellaneous Language Features
• C++11 Library Extensions — General Libraries
• C++11 Library Extensions — Containers and Algorithms
• C++11 Library Extensions — Concurrency

C++14

• C++14 Overview
• C++14 Language Extensions
• C++14 Library Extensions

Miscellaneous Q&A

• Compiler Dependencies
• Miscellaneous Technical Issues
• Miscellaneous Environmental Issues
• Miscellaneous Style Issues
• C++0x Concepts — Historical FAQs
• Myths and Urban Legends About C++
• Partial List of ISO C++ Committee Members