C++11

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

Versions

C++98

C++03

C++11

C++14

C++17

C++20

C++23

Current Status

 

C++11 is the second major version of C++ and the most important update since C++98. A large number of changes were introduced to both standardize existing practices and improve the abstractions available to the C++ programmers.

Before it was finally approved by ISO on 12 August 2011, the name 'C++0x' was used because it was expected to be published before 2010. It took 8 years between C++03 and C++11, so it has become the longest interval between versions so far. Since then, currently, C++ updates every 3 years regularly.

Following features were merged into C++11:

• From TR1: all of TR1 except Special Functions.
• From Boost: The thread library, exception_ptr, error_code and error_condition, iterator improvements (begin, end, next, prev)
• From C: C-style Unicode conversion functions

Core language features

• auto and decltype
• defaulted and deleted functions
• final and override
• trailing return type
• rvalue references
• move constructors and move assignment operators
• scoped enums
• constexpr and literal types
• list initialization
• delegating and inherited constructors
• brace-or-equal initializers
• nullptr
• long long
• char16_t and char32_t
• type aliases
• variadic templates
• generalized (non-trivial) unions
• generalized PODs (trivial types and standard-layout types)
• Unicode string literals
• user-defined literals
• attributes
• lambda expressions
• noexcept specifier and noexcept operator
• alignof and alignas
• multithreaded memory model
• thread-local storage
• GC interface (removed in C++23)
• range-for (based on a Boost library)
• static_assert (based on a Boost library)

Library features

Headers

• <array>
• <atomic>
• <cfenv>
• <chrono>
• <cinttypes>
• <condition_variable>
• <cstdint>
• <cuchar>
• <forward_list>
• <future>
• <initializer_list>
• <mutex>
• <random>
• <ratio>
• <regex>
• <scoped_allocator>
• <system_error>
• <thread>
• <tuple>
• <typeindex>
• <type_traits>
• <unordered_map>
• <unordered_set>

Library features

• concurrency support library
• emplace() and other use of rvalue references throughout all parts of the existing library
• std::unique_ptr
• std::move_iterator
• std::initializer_list
• stateful and scoped allocators
• std::forward_list
• chrono library
• ratio library
• new algorithms:

• std::all_of, std::any_of, std::none_of,
• std::find_if_not,
• std::copy_if, std::copy_n,
• std::move, std::move_backward,
• std::random_shuffle, std::shuffle,
• std::is_partitioned, std::partition_copy, std::partition_point,
• std::is_sorted, std::is_sorted_until,
• std::is_heap, std::is_heap_until,
• std::minmax, std::minmax_element,
• std::is_permutation,
• std::iota,
• std::uninitialized_copy_n

• Unicode conversion facets
• std::function
• std::exception_ptr
• std::error_code and std::error_condition
• iterator improvements:

• std::begin
• std::end
• std::next
• std::prev

• Unicode conversion functions

Compiler support

Main Article: C++11 compiler support

C++11 core language features

C++11 feature	Paper(s)	GCC	Clang	MSVC	Apple Clang	EDG eccp	Intel C++	IBM XLC++	Sun/Oracle C++	Embarcadero C++ Builder	Cray	Nvidia HPC C++ (ex Portland Group/PGI)	Nvidia nvcc	HP aCC	Digital Mars C++
C99 preprocessor	N1653	4.3	Yes	19.0 (2015)* (partial)* 19.26*	Yes	4.1	11.1	10.1	5.9	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25	Yes
static_assert	N1720	4.3	2.9	16.0*	Yes	4.1	11.0	11.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25	8.52
Right angle brackets	N1757	4.3	Yes	14.0*	Yes	4.1	11.0	12.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0
Extended friend declarations	N1791	4.7	2.9	16.0* (partial) 18.0*	Yes	4.1	11.1* 12.0	11.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25
long long	N1811	Yes	Yes	14.0*	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	Yes	Yes
Compiler support for type traits	N1836 N2518* N2984 N3142	4.3* 4.8* 5	3.0	14.0* (partial)* 19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.0	10.0	13.1.3	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015		6.16
auto	N1984	4.4	Yes	16.0*	Yes	3.9	11.0 (v0.9) 12.0	11.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25
Delegating constructors	N1986	4.7	3.0	18.0*	Yes	4.7	14.0	11.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
extern template	N1987	3.3	Yes	12.0*	Yes	3.9	9.0	11.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25
constexpr	N2235	4.6	3.1	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.6	13.0* 14.0	12.1* 13.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
Template aliases	N2258	4.7	3.0	18.0*	Yes	4.2	12.1	13.1.1*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.27
char16_t and char32_t	N2249	4.4	2.9	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.4	12.1* 14.0	13.1.1*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.27	8.52
alignas	N2341	4.8	3.0	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.8	15.0	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.6	2015	7.0
alignof	N2341	4.5	2.9	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.8	15.0	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0
Defaulted and deleted functions	N2346	4.4	3.0	18.0*	Yes	4.1	12.0	13.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25
Strongly-typed enum	N2347	4.4	2.9	17.0*	Yes	4.0	13.0	12.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25
Atomic operations	N2427	4.4	3.1	17.0*	Yes	Yes	13.0	13.1.2*	5.14	Yes	8.4	2015
nullptr	N2431	4.6	2.9	16.0*	Yes	4.2	12.1	13.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.27	8.52
Explicit conversion operators	N2437	4.5	3.0	18.0*	Yes	4.4	13.0	12.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.27
ref-qualifiers	N2439	4.8.1	2.9	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.7	14.0	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
Unicode string literals	N2442	4.4	3.0	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.7	11.0*	10.1* 13.1.1*	5.7	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28	8.52
Raw string literals	N2442	4.5	Yes	18.0*	Yes	4.7	14.0	13.1.1, except AIX xlC 13.1.3*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28	8.52
Inline namespaces	N2535	4.4	2.9	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.5	14.0	11.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
Inheriting constructors	N2540	4.8	3.3	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.8	15.0	13.1.1*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0
Trailing function return types	N2541	4.4	2.9	16.0*	Yes	4.1	12.0	12.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.27
Unrestricted unions	N2544	4.6	3.0	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.6	14.0*	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
Variadic templates	N2242 N2555	4.3 (N2242) 4.4	2.9	18.0*	Yes	4.3 (N2242) 4.3	12.1	11.1 (N2242)	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.27
Expression SFINAE	N2634	4.4	2.9	19.14*	Yes	4.2	12.1			Yes	8.4	2015	7.0
Local and unnamed types as template parameters	N2657	4.5	2.9	16.0*	Yes	4.2	12.0	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.27
Thread-local storage	N2659	4.4 (partial) 4.8	3.3*	16.0* (partial) 19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.8	11.1 (partial) 15.0*	10.1 (partial)* 13.1.2 (partial)*	5.9 (partial)	Yes	8.4	2015			8.52 (partial)
Dynamic initialization and destruction with concurrency (magic statics)	N2660	4.3	2.9	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	Yes	11.1*	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015		A.06.25
Garbage Collection and Reachability-Based Leak Detection	N2670
Initializer lists	N2672	4.4	3.1	18.0*	Yes	4.5	13.0 (partial) 14.0	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
Non-static data member initializers	N2756	4.7	3.0	18.0*	Yes	4.6	14.0	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
Attributes	N2761	4.8	3.3	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.2	12.1	13.1.1*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.27
Forward (opaque) enum declarations	N2764	4.6	3.1	17.0*	Yes	4.5	11.1 (partial) 14.0	12.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0
User-defined literals	N2765	4.7	3.1	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.8	15.0	13.1.2*	5.14	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0
Rvalue references	N2118 N2844 CWG1138	4.3 (N2118) 4.5	2.9	16.0* (N2844) 17.0*	Yes	4.5	11.1 (N2118) 12.0 (N2844) 14.0	12.1	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0*	A.06.25
Lambda expressions	N2550 N2658 N2927	4.5	3.1	16.0* (N2658) 17.0*	Yes	4.1	12.0	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25
Range-for loop	N2930 N3271	4.6	3.0	17.0*	Yes	4.5	13.0	13.1.2*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
noexcept	N3050	4.6	3.0	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.5	14.0	13.1.1*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.28
Defaulted move special member functions	N3053	4.6	3.0	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	4.5	14.0		5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25
override and final	N2928 N3206 N3272	4.7	2.9	14.0* (partial) 17.0*	Yes	4.8	12.0 (N2928) 14.0	13.1.1*	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0
decltype	N2343 N3276	4.3 (N2343) 4.8.1	2.9	16.0*	Yes	4.2 (N2343) 4.8	11.0 (N2343) 12.0	11.1 (N2343)	5.13	Yes	8.4	2015	7.0	A.06.25	8.52 (N2343)
C++11 feature	Paper(s)	GCC	Clang	MSVC	Apple Clang	EDG eccp	Intel C++	IBM XLC++	Sun/Oracle C++	Embarcadero C++ Builder	Cray	Nvidia HPC C++ (ex Portland Group/PGI)	Nvidia nvcc	HP aCC	Digital Mars C++

C++11 library features

C++11 feature	Paper(s)	GCC libstdc++	Clang libc++	MSVC STL	Apple Clang	Sun/Oracle C++ Standard Library	Embarcadero C++ Builder Standard Library
Type traits	N1836 N2240 N2244 N2255 N2342 N2984 N3142	4.3* 4.8* 5	3.0	14.0* (partial)* 19.0 (2015)*	Yes	5.13	Yes
Garbage Collection and Reachability-Based Leak Detection (library support)	N2670	6 (no-op)*	3.4 (no-op)*	19.0 (2015)* (no-op)*	Yes (no-op)*
Money, Time, and hexfloat I/O manipulators	N2071 N2072	5	3.8	19.0 (2015)*	Yes	5.15
Disallowing COW (copy-on-write) std::basic_string	N2668	5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Regular expressions library	N1429	4.9	?	?	Yes
C++11 feature	Paper(s)	GCC libstdc++	Clang libc++	MSVC STL	Apple Clang	Sun/Oracle C++ Standard Library	Embarcadero C++ Builder Standard Library

* - hover over a cell marked with the star * to see additional pop-up notes.
DRnn - the number nn after "DR" denotes target C++ revision the Defect Report is applied to, e.g., DR20 → C++20.

External links

Working C++11 examples