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Microsoft Extensions to C and C++

Visual C++ extends the ANSI C and ANSI C++ standards as follows.

Keywords

Several keywords are added. In the list in C++ Keywords, the keywords that have two leading underscores are Visual C++ extensions.

Out of Class Definition of static const Integral (or enum) Members

Under the standard (/Za), you must make an out-of-class definition for data members, as shown here:

class CMyClass  {
   static const int max = 5;
   int m_array[max];
}
...
const int CMyClass::max;   // out of class definition

Under /Ze, the out-of-class definition is optional for static, const integral, and const enum data members. Only integrals and enums that are static and const can have initializers in a class; the initializing expression must be a const expression.

To avoid errors when an out-of-class definition is provided in a header file and the header file is included in multiple source files, use selectany. For example:

__declspec(selectany) const int CMyClass::max = 5;

Casts

Both the C++ compiler and C compiler support these kinds of non-ANSI casts:

  • Non-ANSI casts to produce l-values. For example:

    char *p;
    (( int * ) p )++;
    

    Note

    This extension is available in the C language only. You can use the following ANSI C standard form in C++ code to modify a pointer as if it is a pointer to a different type.

    The preceding example could be rewritten as follows to conform to the ANSI C standard.

    p = ( char * )(( int * )p + 1 );
    
  • Non-ANSI casts of a function pointer to a data pointer. For example:

    int ( * pfunc ) (); 
    int *pdata;
    pdata = ( int * ) pfunc;
    

    To perform the same cast and also maintain ANSI compatibility, you can cast the function pointer to a uintptr_t before you cast it to a data pointer:

    pdata = ( int * ) (uintptr_t) pfunc;
    

Variable-Length Argument Lists

Both the C++ compiler and C compiler support a function declarator that specifies a variable number of arguments, followed by a function definition that provides a type instead:

void myfunc( int x, ... );
void myfunc( int x, char * c )
{ }

Single-Line Comments

The C compiler supports single-line comments, which are introduced by using two forward slash (//) characters:

// This is a single-line comment.

Scope

The C compiler supports the following scope-related features.

  • Redefinitions of extern items as static:

    extern int clip();
    static int clip()
    {}
    
  • Use of benign typedef redefinitions within the same scope:

    typedef int INT;
    typedef int INT;
    
  • Function declarators have file scope:

    void func1()
    {
        extern int func2( double );
    }
    int main( void )
    {
        func2( 4 );    //  /Ze passes 4 as type double
    }                  //  /Za passes 4 as type int
    
  • Use of block-scope variables that are initialized by using nonconstant expressions:

    int clip( int );
    int bar( int );
    int main( void )
    {
        int array[2] = { clip( 2 ), bar( 4 ) };
    }
    int clip( int x )
    {
        return x;
    }
    int bar( int x )
    {
        return x;
    }
    

Data Declarations and Definitions

The C compiler supports the following data declaration and definition features.

  • Mixed character and string constants in an initializer:

    char arr[5] = {'a', 'b', "cde"};
    
  • Bit fields that have base types other than unsigned int or signed int.

  • Declarators that don't have a type:

    x;
    int main( void )
    {
        x = 1;
    }
    
  • Unsized arrays as the last field in structures and unions:

    struct zero
    {
        char *c;
        int zarray[];
    };
    
  • Unnamed (anonymous) structures:

    struct
    {
        int i;
        char *s;
    };
    
  • Unnamed (anonymous) unions:

    union
    {
        int i;
        float fl;
    };
    
  • Unnamed members:

    struct s
    {
       unsigned int flag : 1;
       unsigned int : 31;
    }
    

Intrinsic Floating-Point Functions

Both the C++ compiler and C compiler support inline generation x86 Specific > of the atan, atan2, cos, exp, log, log10, sin, sqrt, and tan functions END x86 Specific when /Oi is specified. For the C compiler, ANSI conformance is lost when these intrinsics are used, because they do not set the errno variable.

Passing a Non-Const Pointer Parameter to a Function that Expects a Reference to a Const Pointer Parameter

This is an extension to C++. This code will compile with /Ze:

typedef   int   T;

const T  acT = 9;      // A constant of type 'T'
const T* pcT = &acT;   // A pointer to a constant of type 'T'

void func2 ( const T*& rpcT )   // A reference to a pointer to a constant of type 'T'
{
   rpcT = pcT;
}

T*   pT;               // A pointer to a 'T'

void func ()
{
   func2 ( pT );      // Should be an error, but isn't detected
   *pT   = 7;         // Invalidly overwrites the constant 'acT'
}

ISO646.H Not Enabled

Under /Ze, you have to include iso646.h if you want to use text forms of the following operators:

  • && (and)

  • &= (and_eq)

  • & (bitand)

  • | (bitor)

  • ~ (compl)

  • ! (not)

  • != (not_eq)

  • || (or)

  • |= (or_eq)

  • ^ (xor)

  • ^= (xor_eq)

Address of String Literal Has Type const char [], not const char (*) []

The following example will output char const (*)[4] under /Za, but char const [4] under /Ze.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <typeinfo>

int main()
{
    printf_s("%s\n", typeid(&"abc").name());
}

See Also

Reference

/Za, /Ze (Disable Language Extensions)

Compiler Options

Setting Compiler Options