C++ Language Reference 

This reference explains the C++ programming language as implemented in Microsoft Visual C++. The organization is based on The Annotated C++ Reference Manual by Margaret Ellis and Bjarne Stroustrup and on the ANSI/ISO C++ International Standard (ISO/IEC FDIS 14882). Microsoft-specific implementations of C++ language features are included.

See the following tables to quickly find a keyword or operator:

• C++ Keywords

• C++ Operators

In This Section

• New C++ Language Features
  Reference section for syntax that lets you target the common language runtime.

• Compatibility and Compliance Issues in Visual C++
  Information about where Visual C++ does not agree with the C++ standard, and breaking changes in the compiler.

• Lexical Conventions
  Fundamental lexical elements of a C++ program: tokens, comments, operators, keywords, punctuators, literals. Also, file translation, operator precedence/associativity.

• Basic Concepts
  Scope, linkage, program startup and termination, storage classes, and types.

• Standard Conversions
  Type conversions between built-in, or "fundamental," types. Also, arithmetic conversions and conversions among pointer, reference, and pointer-to-member types.

• Expressions
  Types and semantics of expressions, reference topics on operators, casting and casting operators, run-time type information.

• Statements
  Expression, null, compound, selection, iteration, jump, and declaration statements.

• Declarations
  Storage-class specifiers, function definitions, initializations, enumerations, class, struct, and union declarations, and typedef declarations. Also, inline functions, const keyword, namespaces.

• Declarators
  The portion of a declaration statement that names an object, type, or function. Abstract declarators, type names, initializers, function declarations and definitions, arrays, references.

• Classes, Structures, and Unions
  Introduction to classes, structures, and unions. Also, member functions, data members, bit fields, this pointer, nested classes.

• Derived Classes
  Single and multiple inheritance, virtual functions, multiple base classes, abstract classes, scope rules. Also, the __super and __interface keywords.

• Member-Access Control
  Controlling access to class members: public, private, and protected keywords. Friend functions and classes.

• Special Member Functions
  Special functions unique to class types: constructors, destructors, conversion functions, assignment operator, operator new and operator delete functions.

• Overloading
  Overloaded functions, declaration matching, argument matching. Also, overloaded operators, rules for operator overloading.

• Exception Handling
  C++ exception handling, structured exception handling (SEH), keywords used in writing exception handling statements.

• Templates
  Template specifications, function templates, class templates, typename keyword, templates vs. macros, templates and smart pointers.

• Event Handling
  Declaring events and event handlers.

• Microsoft-Specific Modifiers
  Modifiers specific to Microsoft C++. Memory addressing, calling conventions, naked functions, extended storage-class attributes (__declspec), __w64.

• Inline Assembler
  Using assembly language and C++ in __asm blocks.

• Compiler COM Support
  A reference to Microsoft-specific classes and global functions used to support COM types.

Related Sections

• New C++ Language Features
  Reference material on using Visual C++ to target the common language runtime.

• C/C++ Building Reference
  Compiler options, linker options, and other build tools.

• C/C++ Preprocessor Reference
  Reference material on pragmas, preprocessor directives, predefined macros, and the preprocessor.

• C Language Reference
  A reference to the C programming language, including Microsoft extensions.

• Visual C++ Libraries
  A list of links to the reference start pages for the various Visual C++ libraries.