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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>Chapter 8. Concept Checking</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.73.2" /><meta name="keywords" content="&#10;      ISO C++&#10;    , &#10;      library&#10;    " /><link rel="start" href="../spine.html" title="The GNU C++ Library Documentation" /><link rel="up" href="diagnostics.html" title="Part III. Diagnostics" /><link rel="prev" href="bk01pt03ch07s03.html" title="Cancellation" /><link rel="next" href="utilities.html" title="Part IV. Utilities" /></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Chapter 8. Concept Checking</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="bk01pt03ch07s03.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Part III. Diagnostics</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="utilities.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="manual.diagnostics.concept_checking"></a>Chapter 8. Concept Checking</h2></div></div></div><p>
    In 1999, SGI added “<span class="quote">concept checkers</span>” to their
    implementation of the STL: code which checked the template
    parameters of instantiated pieces of the STL, in order to insure
    that the parameters being used met the requirements of the
    standard.  For example, the Standard requires that types passed as
    template parameters to <code class="classname">vector</code> be
    "Assignable" (which means what you think it means).  The
    checking was done during compilation, and none of the code was
    executed at runtime.
   </p><p>
     Unfortunately, the size of the compiler files grew significantly
     as a result.  The checking code itself was cumbersome.  And bugs
     were found in it on more than one occasion.
   </p><p>
     The primary author of the checking code, Jeremy Siek, had already
     started work on a replacement implementation.  The new code has been
     formally reviewed and accepted into
   <a class="ulink" href="http://www.boost.org/libs/concept_check/concept_check.htm" target="_top">the
   Boost libraries</a>, and we are pleased to incorporate it into the
   GNU C++ library.
 </p><p>
   The new version imposes a much smaller space overhead on the generated
   object file.  The checks are also cleaner and easier to read and
   understand.
 </p><p>
   They are off by default for all versions of GCC.
   They can be enabled at configure time with
   <a class="ulink" href="../configopts.html" target="_top"><code class="literal">--enable-concept-checks</code></a>.
   You can enable them on a per-translation-unit basis with
     <code class="literal">-D_GLIBCXX_CONCEPT_CHECKS</code>.
 </p><p>
   Please note that the upcoming C++ standard has first-class
   support for template parameter constraints based on concepts in the core
   language. This will obviate the need for the library-simulated concept
   checking described above.
 </p></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="bk01pt03ch07s03.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="diagnostics.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="utilities.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Cancellation </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../spine.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Part IV. Utilities</td></tr></table></div></body></html>