One of those snippets you just copy-paste. Can I please explain to you a few basics before your copy-paste this one?
ISO C++ committee WG21 document N4835 is C++20 draft. Please look it up.
201703L is in there to indicate C++20 value is not declared and defined yet. That 201703L, is standard C++17 value. Each and every compiler vendor declares 201703L for C++17 for __cplusplus. (Not so, yet for the C++20 code.)
These macros are for:
- situations when customers **might** try your app in systems or situations, which are undeclared as your app operating requirements.
- you have you app operating requirements, yes?
- situation, when your code needs to know, is it in the C++20 or C++23 mode, in the future
- Etc.
One could indeed simplify and fix on C++17
Instead of a page long “wall of macros” that decides which C++ version is on, one can get hold of only the C++17 value. This is all we might need, are we bellow required C++ 17 value or are we above the required mark.
This is the way to demand exactly C++17 and nothing else. And that will work “forever”.
#ifndef __cplusplus #error YOUR_APP requires C++ compiler #endif #if ( __cplusplus < 201703L ) #error YOUR_APP requires the standard C++17 compiler #endif #if ( __cplusplus > 201703L ) #error YOUR_APP is not ready yet for the standard C++20 (or higher) #endif
That would indeed cover the operational requirements of the C++17 language requirement.
cl.exe has to be the odd one out
Alas, that does not work right now for developers using Microsoft cl.exe (c++ compiler). So I had to change it
#ifndef __cplusplus #error MY APP requires C++ compiler #endif #ifndef MY_CPLUSPLUS #if defined(_MSVC_LANG) && !defined(__clang__) #define MY_CPLUSPLUS (_MSC_VER == 1900 ? 201103L : _MSVC_LANG) #else #define MY_CPLUSPLUS __cplusplus #endif #endif #if (MY_CPLUSPLUS < 201703L) #error MY APP requires the standard C++17 compiler #endif #if (MY_CPLUSPLUS > 201703L) #error MY APP is not ready yet for the standard C++20 (or higher) #endif
This is because, for me here __cplusplus == 199711L, and my compiler is
Microsoft (R) C/C++ Optimizing Compiler Version 19.24.28314 for x86 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Which is the very latest.
Using CL you need to compile with the /Zc:__cplusplus switch to see the C++ standard defined value of the __cplusplus macro. But nobody does that.
And what we do when C++20 becomes official?
At that moment __cplusplus will be having the official value which we will use. Very likely our app operational requirement will then become C++17 or C++20.
And yes, that would be an exercise for the reader.
