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Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 17 | |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 18 | <div class="submenu"> |
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| 24 | <label>Quick Links</label> |
Chris Lattner | 3c9af34 | 2010-05-11 20:53:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 25 | <a href="http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/cfe-dev">cfe-dev</a> |
| 26 | <a href="http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/cfe-commits">cfe-commits</a> |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 27 | <a href="http://llvm.org/bugs/">Bug Reports</a> |
Howard Hinnant | 0017185 | 2010-05-11 20:51:20 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 28 | <a href="http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxx/trunk/">Browse SVN</a> |
| 29 | <a href="http://llvm.org/viewvc/llvm-project/libcxx/trunk/">Browse ViewVC</a> |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 30 | </div> |
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| 33 | <div id="content"> |
| 34 | <!--*********************************************************************--> |
| 35 | <h1>"libc++" C++ Standard Library</h1> |
| 36 | <!--*********************************************************************--> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 37 | |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 38 | <p>libc++ is a new implementation of the C++ standard library, targeting |
| 39 | C++0X.</p> |
| 40 | |
Chris Lattner | 7b2aacc | 2010-11-16 21:40:19 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 41 | <p>All of the code in libc++ is <a |
| 42 | href="http://llvm.org/docs/DeveloperPolicy.html#license">dual licensed</a> |
| 43 | under the MIT license and the UIUC License (a BSD-like license).</p> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 44 | |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 45 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
| 46 | <h2 id="goals">Features and Goals</h2> |
| 47 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 48 | |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 49 | <ul> |
| 50 | <li>Correctness as defined by the (currently draft) C++0X standard.</li> |
| 51 | <li>Fast execution.</li> |
| 52 | <li>Minimal memory use.</li> |
| 53 | <li>Fast compile times.</li> |
| 54 | <li>ABI compatibility with gcc's libstdc++ for some low-level features |
| 55 | such as exception objects, rtti and memory allocation.</li> |
| 56 | <li>Extensive unit tests.</li> |
| 57 | </ul> |
| 58 | |
| 59 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
Chris Lattner | e2b0727 | 2010-05-12 22:21:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 60 | <h2 id="why">Why a new C++ Standard Library for C++'0x?</h2> |
| 61 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 62 | |
Chris Lattner | e2b0727 | 2010-05-12 22:21:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 63 | <p>After its initial introduction, many people have asked "why start a new |
| 64 | library instead of contributing to an existing library?" (like Apache's |
| 65 | libstdcxx, GNU's libstdc++, STLport, etc). There are many contributing |
| 66 | reasons, but some of the major ones are:</p> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 67 | |
Chris Lattner | e2b0727 | 2010-05-12 22:21:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 68 | <ul> |
| 69 | <li><p>From years of experience (including having implemented the standard |
| 70 | library before), we've learned many things about implementing |
| 71 | the standard containers which require ABI breakage and fundamental changes |
| 72 | to how they are implemented. For example, it is generally accepted that |
| 73 | building std::string using the "short string optimization" instead of |
| 74 | using Copy On Write (COW) is a superior approach for multicore |
Chris Lattner | c67061b | 2010-05-12 22:30:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 75 | machines (particularly in C++'0x, which has rvalue references). Breaking |
| 76 | ABI compatibility with old versions of the library was |
Chris Lattner | e2b0727 | 2010-05-12 22:21:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 77 | determined to be critical to achieving the performance goals of |
| 78 | libc++.</p></li> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 79 | |
Chris Lattner | e2b0727 | 2010-05-12 22:21:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 80 | <li><p>Mainline libstdc++ has switched to GPL3, a license which the developers |
| 81 | of libc++ cannot use. libstdc++ 4.2 (the last GPL2 version) could be |
| 82 | independently extended to support C++'0x, but this would be a fork of the |
Chris Lattner | e7bdfe6 | 2010-05-12 22:33:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 83 | codebase (which is often seen as worse for a project than starting a new |
| 84 | independent one). Another problem with libstdc++ is that it is tightly |
| 85 | integrated with G++ development, tending to be tied fairly closely to the |
| 86 | matching version of G++.</p> |
Chris Lattner | e2b0727 | 2010-05-12 22:21:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 87 | </li> |
| 88 | |
| 89 | <li><p>STLport and the Apache libstdcxx library are two other popular |
| 90 | candidates, but both lack C++'0x support. Our experience (and the |
| 91 | experience of libstdc++ developers) is that adding support for C++0x (in |
| 92 | particular rvalue references and move-only types) requires changes to |
| 93 | almost every class and function, essentially amounting to a rewrite. |
Chris Lattner | 48035ce | 2010-05-12 22:34:21 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 94 | Faced with a rewrite, we decided to start from scratch and evaluate every |
| 95 | design decision from first principles based on experience.</p> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 96 | |
Chris Lattner | e2b0727 | 2010-05-12 22:21:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 97 | <p>Further, both projects are apparently abandoned: STLport 5.2.1 was |
| 98 | released in Oct'08, and STDCXX 4.2.1 in May'08.</p> |
| 99 | |
| 100 | </ul> |
| 101 | |
| 102 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 103 | <h2 id="requirements">Platform Support</h2> |
| 104 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
| 105 | |
| 106 | <p>libc++ is known to work on the following platforms, using g++-4.2 and |
| 107 | clang (lack of C++0X language support disables some functionality).</p> |
| 108 | |
| 109 | <ul> |
| 110 | <li>Mac OS X i386</li> |
| 111 | <li>Mac OS X x86_64</li> |
| 112 | </ul> |
| 113 | |
| 114 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
| 115 | <h2 id="dir-structure">Current Status</h2> |
| 116 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
| 117 | |
Howard Hinnant | 2a95583 | 2010-09-05 17:31:48 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 118 | <p>libc++ is still under development. It has about 98% of |
| 119 | <a href="http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2010/n3126.pdf">N3126</a> |
Chris Lattner | e2b0727 | 2010-05-12 22:21:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 120 | implemented/tested. C++'98 support is fully featured, and most of C++'0x |
Howard Hinnant | 2a95583 | 2010-09-05 17:31:48 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 121 | support is as well. The only major missing piece of C++'0x support is |
| 122 | <code><atomic></code>.</p> |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 123 | |
Howard Hinnant | 075ac85 | 2010-05-13 20:10:39 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 124 | <p><a href="libcxx_by_chapter.pdf">Here</a> is a by-chapter breakdown of what |
| 125 | is passing tests and what isn't. This chart is currently based on testing |
Dan Gohman | e659140 | 2010-06-04 14:16:02 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 126 | against g++-4.4.0 with -std=c++0x. </p> |
Howard Hinnant | 075ac85 | 2010-05-13 20:10:39 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 127 | |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 128 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
| 129 | <h2>Get it and get involved!</h2> |
| 130 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 131 | |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 132 | <p>To check out the code, use:</p> |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 133 | |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 134 | <ul> |
Chris Lattner | e66f1e3 | 2010-05-11 20:37:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 135 | <li><code>svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxx/trunk libcxx</code></li> |
Howard Hinnant | efc7aa2 | 2011-01-27 23:18:19 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 136 | </ul> |
| 137 | |
| 138 | <p>To build on Mac OS X 10.6, you need a helper library and header |
| 139 | <a href="http://home.roadrunner.com/~hinnant/libcppabi.zip">found here</a>. |
| 140 | cp cxxabi.h to /usr/include, and cp libc++abi.dylib to /usr/lib. |
| 141 | <p> |
| 142 | |
| 143 | <p> |
| 144 | Next: |
| 145 | </p> |
| 146 | |
| 147 | <ul> |
| 148 | <li><code>cd libcxx/lib</code></li> |
| 149 | <li><code>export TRIPLE=-apple-</code></li> |
| 150 | <li><code>./buildit</code></li> |
| 151 | </ul> |
| 152 | |
| 153 | <p> |
| 154 | That should result in a libc++.1.dylib. To install it I like to use links |
| 155 | instead of copying, but either should work: |
| 156 | </p> |
| 157 | |
| 158 | <ul> |
| 159 | <li><code>cd /usr/lib</code></li> |
Howard Hinnant | 38438dd | 2011-02-22 14:18:34 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 160 | <li><code>sudo ln -sf path-to-libcxx/lib/libc++.1.dylib libc++.1.dylib</code></li> |
| 161 | <li><code>sudo ln -sf libc++.1.dylib libc++.dylib</code></li> |
Howard Hinnant | efc7aa2 | 2011-01-27 23:18:19 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 162 | <li><code>cd /usr/include/c++</code></li> |
| 163 | <li><code>sudo ln -sf path-to-libcxx/include v1</code></li> |
| 164 | </ul> |
| 165 | |
| 166 | <p> |
| 167 | To use with clang you can: |
| 168 | </p> |
| 169 | |
| 170 | <ul> |
| 171 | <li><code>clang++ -stdlib=libc++ test.cpp</code></li> |
| 172 | <li><code>clang++ -std=c++0x -stdlib=libc++ test.cpp</code></li> |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 173 | </ul> |
| 174 | |
| 175 | <p>To run the libc++ test suit (recommended):</p> |
| 176 | |
| 177 | <ul> |
Chris Lattner | e66f1e3 | 2010-05-11 20:37:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 178 | <li><code>cd libcxx/test</code></li> |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 179 | <li><code>./testit</code></li> |
Howard Hinnant | 14c2a08 | 2011-06-22 12:13:55 +0000 | [diff] [blame^] | 180 | <ul> |
| 181 | <li><p>On Mac OS 10.6 add "-U__STRICT_ANSI__" to the command line with:</p> |
| 182 | <blockquote><pre> |
| 183 | export OPTIONS="-std=c++0x -stdlib=libc++ -U__STRICT_ANSI__" |
| 184 | </pre></blockqutoe></li> |
| 185 | </ul> |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 186 | </ul> |
| 187 | |
Howard Hinnant | 3e1b042 | 2010-08-22 01:04:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 188 | <p>Send discussions to the |
Howard Hinnant | c5b02f2 | 2010-05-11 19:53:34 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 189 | (<a href="http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/cfe-dev">clang mailing list</a>).</p> |
| 190 | |
Howard Hinnant | bded6c9 | 2010-10-05 16:44:40 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 191 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
| 192 | <h2>Design Documents</h2> |
| 193 | <!--=====================================================================--> |
| 194 | |
| 195 | <ul> |
| 196 | <li><a href="atomic_design.html"><tt><atomic></tt></a></li> |
Howard Hinnant | e20b8de | 2010-11-19 01:38:58 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 197 | <li><a href="type_traits_design.html"><tt><type_traits></tt></a></li> |
Howard Hinnant | bded6c9 | 2010-10-05 16:44:40 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 198 | </ul> |
| 199 | |
Howard Hinnant | c51e102 | 2010-05-11 19:42:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 200 | </div> |
| 201 | </body> |
Chris Lattner | e66f1e3 | 2010-05-11 20:37:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 202 | </html> |