ConceptGCC

From Encoresoup - The Ultimate Guide to Free/Open Source Software

ConceptGCC is a fork of the GNU C++ compiler that implements a preliminary version of the type concepts feature planned for the forthcoming new ISO standard for the C++ programming language, known as C++0x. Developed by a team led by Douglas Gregor (co-author, along with Bjarne Stroustrup, of the C++0x concepts proposal (N2081)) at the Open Systems Laboratory at Indiana University, ConceptGCC serves as the current reference implementation for the proposal. Both the proposal and ConceptGCC are actively evolving, and are maintained more-or-less in parallel. The current version of ConceptGCC is considered an alpha release, and as such should be considered highly experimental.

The version of C++ implemented by ConceptGCC is known as ConceptC++. Until (or unless) the concepts proposal is included in the finalized new standard, ConceptC++ must be considered an experimental extension to standard C++. As the new standard solidifies, it is planned that the ConceptGCC extensions will be merged back into mainline GCC, initially (for GCC 4.3) as an optionally-enabled extension, and then eventually as part of its implementation of standard C++.

In addition to type concepts, ConceptGCC also incorporates GCC patches implementing several other planned C++0x features, including:

• RValue references
• Variadic templates
• Static assertions
• decltype
• Range-based for loops

[edit] See also

• GNU Compiler Collection
• C++0x
• Concept (generic programming)
• TR1

[edit] External links

• Official site
• C++ Standards Committee Doc. No. N2081 - Concepts (Revision 1)
• Google video of Gregor's lecture about the concepts