7 Declarations [dcl.dcl]

The storage class specifiers are

storage-class-specifier:
    register
    static
    thread_local
    extern
    mutable

At most one storage-class-specifier shall appear in a given decl-specifier-seq, except that thread_local may appear with static or extern. If thread_local appears in any declaration of a variable it shall be present in all declarations of that entity. If a storage-class-specifier appears in a decl-specifier-seq, there can be no typedef specifier in the same decl-specifier-seq and the init-declarator-list of the declaration shall not be empty (except for an anonymous union declared in a named namespace or in the global namespace, which shall be declared static ([class.union])). The storage-class-specifier applies to the name declared by each init-declarator in the list and not to any names declared by other specifiers. A storage-class-specifier shall not be specified in an explicit specialization ([temp.expl.spec]) or an explicit instantiation ([temp.explicit]) directive.

The register specifier shall be applied only to names of variables declared in a block ([stmt.block]) or to function parameters ([dcl.fct.def]). It specifies that the named variable has automatic storage duration ([basic.stc.auto]). A variable declared without a storage-class-specifier at block scope or declared as a function parameter has automatic storage duration by default.

A register specifier is a hint to the implementation that the variable so declared will be heavily used. [ Note: The hint can be ignored and in most implementations it will be ignored if the address of the variable is taken. This use is deprecated (see [depr.register]).  — end note ]

The thread_local specifier indicates that the named entity has thread storage duration ([basic.stc.thread]). It shall be applied only to the names of variables of namespace or block scope and to the names of static data members. When thread_local is applied to a variable of block scope the storage-class-specifier static is implied if it does not appear explicitly.

The static specifier can be applied only to names of variables and functions and to anonymous unions ([class.union]). There can be no static function declarations within a block, nor any static function parameters. A static specifier used in the declaration of a variable declares the variable to have static storage duration ([basic.stc.static]), unless accompanied by the thread_local specifier, which declares the variable to have thread storage duration ([basic.stc.thread]). A static specifier can be used in declarations of class members; [class.static] describes its effect. For the linkage of a name declared with a static specifier, see [basic.link].

The extern specifier can be applied only to the names of variables and functions. The extern specifier cannot be used in the declaration of class members or function parameters. For the linkage of a name declared with an extern specifier, see [basic.link]. [ Note: The extern keyword can also be used in explicit-instantiations and linkage-specifications, but it is not a storage-class-specifier in such contexts.  — end note ]

A name declared in a namespace scope without a storage-class-specifier has external linkage unless it has internal linkage because of a previous declaration and provided it is not declared const. Objects declared const and not explicitly declared extern have internal linkage.

The linkages implied by successive declarations for a given entity shall agree. That is, within a given scope, each declaration declaring the same variable name or the same overloading of a function name shall imply the same linkage. Each function in a given set of overloaded functions can have a different linkage, however. [ Example:

static char* f();               // f() has internal linkage
char* f()                       // f() still has internal linkage
  { /* ... */ }

char* g();                      // g() has external linkage
static char* g()                // error: inconsistent linkage
  { /* ... */ }

void h();
inline void h();                // external linkage

inline void l();
void l();                       // external linkage

inline void m();
extern void m();                // external linkage

static void n();
inline void n();                // internal linkage

static int a;                   // a has internal linkage
int a;                          // error: two definitions

static int b;                   // b has internal linkage
extern int b;                   // b still has internal linkage

int c;                          // c has external linkage
static int c;                   // error: inconsistent linkage

extern int d;                   // d has external linkage
static int d;                   // error: inconsistent linkage

 — end example ]

The name of a declared but undefined class can be used in an extern declaration. Such a declaration can only be used in ways that do not require a complete class type. [ Example:

struct S;
extern S a;
extern S f();
extern void g(S);

void h() {
  g(a);                         // error: S is incomplete
  f();                          // error: S is incomplete
}

 — end example ]

The mutable specifier can be applied only to names of class data members ([class.mem]) and cannot be applied to names declared const or static, and cannot be applied to reference members. [ Example:

class X {
  mutable const int* p;         // OK
  mutable int* const q;         // ill-formed
};

 — end example ]

The mutable specifier on a class data member nullifies a const specifier applied to the containing class object and permits modification of the mutable class member even though the rest of the object is const ([dcl.type.cv]).

Function-specifiers can be used only in function declarations.

function-specifier:
    inline
    virtual
    explicit

A function declaration ([dcl.fct], [class.mfct], [class.friend]) with an inline specifier declares an inline function. The inline specifier indicates to the implementation that inline substitution of the function body at the point of call is to be preferred to the usual function call mechanism. An implementation is not required to perform this inline substitution at the point of call; however, even if this inline substitution is omitted, the other rules for inline functions defined by [dcl.fct.spec] shall still be respected.

A function defined within a class definition is an inline function. The inline specifier shall not appear on a block scope function declaration.90 If the inline specifier is used in a friend declaration, that declaration shall be a definition or the function shall have previously been declared inline.

An inline function shall be defined in every translation unit in which it is odr-used and shall have exactly the same definition in every case ([basic.def.odr]). [ Note: A call to the inline function may be encountered before its definition appears in the translation unit.  — end note ] If the definition of a function appears in a translation unit before its first declaration as inline, the program is ill-formed. If a function with external linkage is declared inline in one translation unit, it shall be declared inline in all translation units in which it appears; no diagnostic is required. An inline function with external linkage shall have the same address in all translation units. A static local variable in an extern inline function always refers to the same object. A string literal in the body of an extern inline function is the same object in different translation units. [ Note: A string literal appearing in a default argument is not in the body of an inline function merely because the expression is used in a function call from that inline function.  — end note ] A type defined within the body of an extern inline function is the same type in every translation unit.

The virtual specifier shall be used only in the initial declaration of a non-static class member function; see [class.virtual].

The explicit specifier shall be used only in the declaration of a constructor or conversion function within its class definition; see [class.conv.ctor] and [class.conv.fct].

Declarations containing the decl-specifier typedef declare identifiers that can be used later for naming fundamental ([basic.fundamental]) or compound ([basic.compound]) types. The typedef specifier shall not be combined in a decl-specifier-seq with any other kind of specifier except a type-specifier, and it shall not be used in the decl-specifier-seq of a parameter-declaration ([dcl.fct]) nor in the decl-specifier-seq of a function-definition ([dcl.fct.def]).

typedef-name:
    identifier

A name declared with the typedef specifier becomes a typedef-name. Within the scope of its declaration, a typedef-name is syntactically equivalent to a keyword and names the type associated with the identifier in the way described in Clause [dcl.decl]. A typedef-name is thus a synonym for another type. A typedef-name does not introduce a new type the way a class declaration ([class.name]) or enum declaration does. [ Example: after

typedef int MILES, *KLICKSP;

the constructions

MILES distance;
extern KLICKSP metricp;

are all correct declarations; the type of distance is int and that of metricp is “pointer to int.”  — end example ]

A typedef-name can also be introduced by an alias-declaration. The identifier following the using keyword becomes a typedef-name and the optional attribute-specifier-seq following the identifier appertains to that typedef-name. It has the same semantics as if it were introduced by the typedef specifier. In particular, it does not define a new type and it shall not appear in the type-id. [ Example:

using handler_t = void (*)(int);
extern handler_t ignore;
extern void (*ignore)(int);         // redeclare ignore
using cell = pair<void*, cell*>;    // ill-formed

 — end example ]

In a given non-class scope, a typedef specifier can be used to redefine the name of any type declared in that scope to refer to the type to which it already refers. [ Example:

typedef struct s { /* ... */ } s;
typedef int I;
typedef int I;
typedef I I;

 — end example ]

In a given class scope, a typedef specifier can be used to redefine any class-name declared in that scope that is not also a typedef-name to refer to the type to which it already refers. [ Example:

struct S {
  typedef struct A { } A;       // OK
  typedef struct B B;           // OK
  typedef A A;                  // error
};

 — end example ]

If a typedef specifier is used to redefine in a given scope an entity that can be referenced using an elaborated-type-specifier, the entity can continue to be referenced by an elaborated-type-specifier or as an enumeration or class name in an enumeration or class definition respectively. [ Example:

struct S;
typedef struct S S;
int main() {
  struct S* p;                  // OK
}
struct S { };                   // OK

 — end example ]

In a given scope, a typedef specifier shall not be used to redefine the name of any type declared in that scope to refer to a different type. [ Example:

class complex { /* ... */ };
typedef int complex;            // error: redefinition

 — end example ]

Similarly, in a given scope, a class or enumeration shall not be declared with the same name as a typedef-name that is declared in that scope and refers to a type other than the class or enumeration itself. [ Example:

typedef int complex;
class complex { /* ... */ };   // error: redefinition

 — end example ]

[ Note: A typedef-name that names a class type, or a cv-qualified version thereof, is also a class-name ([class.name]). If a typedef-name is used to identify the subject of an elaborated-type-specifier ([dcl.type.elab]), a class definition (Clause [class]), a constructor declaration ([class.ctor]), or a destructor declaration ([class.dtor]), the program is ill-formed.  — end note ] [ Example:

struct S {
  S();
  ~S();
};

typedef struct S T;

S a = T();                      // OK
struct T * p;                   // error

 — end example ]

If the typedef declaration defines an unnamed class (or enum), the first typedef-name declared by the declaration to be that class type (or enum type) is used to denote the class type (or enum type) for linkage purposes only ([basic.link]). [ Example:

typedef struct { } *ps, S;      // S is the class name for linkage purposes

 — end example ]

The friend specifier is used to specify access to class members; see [class.friend].

The constexpr specifier shall be applied only to the definition of a variable, the declaration of a function or function template, or the declaration of a static data member of a literal type ([basic.types]). If any declaration of a function or function template has constexpr specifier, then all its declarations shall contain the constexpr specifier. [ Note: An explicit specialization can differ from the template declaration with respect to the constexpr specifier.  — end note ] [ Note: Function parameters cannot be declared constexpr. — end note ] [ Example:

constexpr int square(int x);    // OK: declaration
constexpr int bufsz = 1024;     // OK: definition
constexpr struct pixel {        // error: pixel is a type
  int x;
  int y;
  constexpr pixel(int);         // OK: declaration
}; 
constexpr pixel::pixel(int a)
  : x(square(a)), y(square(a))  // OK: definition
  { }
constexpr pixel small(2);       // error: square not defined, so small(2)
                                // not constant ([expr.const]) so constexpr not satisfied

constexpr int square(int x) {   // OK: definition
  return x * x;
}
constexpr pixel large(4);       // OK: square defined
int next(constexpr int x) {     // error: not for parameters
     return x + 1;
} 
extern constexpr int memsz;     // error: not a definition 

 — end example ]

A constexpr specifier used in the declaration of a function that is not a constructor declares that function to be a constexpr function. Similarly, a constexpr specifier used in a constructor declaration declares that constructor to be a constexpr constructor. constexpr functions and constexpr constructors are implicitly inline ([dcl.fct.spec]).

The definition of a constexpr function shall satisfy the following constraints:

• (3.1)

  it shall not be virtual ([class.virtual]);

• (3.2)

  its return type shall be a literal type;

• (3.3)

  each of its parameter types shall be a literal type;

• (3.4)

  its function-body shall be = delete, = default, or a compound-statement that contains only

  • (3.4.1)

    null statements,

  • (3.4.2)

    static_assert-declarations

  • (3.4.3)

    typedef declarations and alias-declarations that do not define classes or enumerations,

  • (3.4.4)

    using-declarations,

  • (3.4.5)

    using-directives,

  • (3.4.6)

    and exactly one return statement;

• (3.5)

  every constructor call and implicit conversion used in initializing the return value ([stmt.return], [dcl.init]) shall be one of those allowed in a constant expression ([expr.const]).

[ Example:

constexpr int square(int x) 
  { return x * x; }             // OK
constexpr long long_max() 
  { return 2147483647; }        // OK
constexpr int abs(int x) 
  { return x < 0 ? -x : x; }    // OK 
constexpr void f(int x)         // error: return type is void /* ... */ 
constexpr int prev(int x)
  { return --x; }               // error: use of decrement
constexpr int g(int x, int n) { // error: body not just “return expr”
  int r = 1;
  while (--n > 0) r *= x;
  return r;
}

 — end example ]

In a definition of a constexpr constructor, each of the parameter types shall be a literal type. In addition, either its function-body shall be = delete or = default or it shall satisfy the following constraints:

• (4.1)

  the class shall not have any virtual base classes;

• (4.2)

  its function-body shall not be a function-try-block;

• (4.3)

  the compound-statement of its function-body shall contain only

  • (4.3.1)

    null statements,

  • (4.3.2)

    static_assert-declarations

  • (4.3.3)

    typedef declarations and alias-declarations that do not define classes or enumerations,

  • (4.3.4)

    using-declarations,

  • (4.3.5)

    and using-directives;

• (4.4)

  every non-static data member and base class sub-object shall be initialized ([class.base.init]);

• (4.5)

  every constructor involved in initializing non-static data members and base class sub-objects shall be a constexpr constructor;

• (4.6)

  every assignment-expression that is an initializer-clause appearing directly or indirectly within a brace-or-equal-initializer for a non-static data member that is not named by a mem-initializer-id shall be a constant expression; and

• (4.7)

  every implicit conversion used in converting a constructor argument to the corresponding parameter type and converting a full-expression to the corresponding member type shall be one of those allowed in a constant expression.

[ Example:

struct Length { 
  explicit constexpr Length(int i = 0) : val(i) { }
private: 
    int val; 
}; 

 — end example ]

Function invocation substitution for a call of a constexpr function or of a constexpr constructor means implicitly converting each argument to the corresponding parameter type as if by copy-initialization,91 substituting that converted expression for each use of the corresponding parameter in the function-body, and, for constexpr functions, implicitly converting the resulting returned expression or braced-init-list to the return type of the function as if by copy-initialization. Such substitution does not change the meaning. [ Example:

constexpr int f(void *) { return 0; }
constexpr int f(...) { return 1; }
constexpr int g1() { return f(0); }         // calls f(void *)
constexpr int g2(int n) { return f(n); }    // calls f(...) even for n == 0
constexpr int g3(int n) { return f(n*0); }  // calls f(...)

namespace N {
  constexpr int c = 5;
  constexpr int h() { return c; }
}
constexpr int c = 0;
constexpr int g4() { return N::h(); }       // value is 5, c is not looked up again after the substitution

 — end example ]

For a constexpr function, if no function argument values exist such that the function invocation substitution would produce a constant expression ([expr.const]), the program is ill-formed; no diagnostic required. For a constexpr constructor, if no argument values exist such that after function invocation substitution, every constructor call and full-expression in the mem-initializers would be a constant expression (including conversions), the program is ill-formed; no diagnostic required. [ Example:

constexpr int f(bool b)
  { return b ? throw 0 : 0; }               // OK
constexpr int f() { throw 0; }              // ill-formed, no diagnostic required

struct B {
  constexpr B(int x) : i(0) { }             // x is unused
  int i;
};

int global;

struct D : B {
  constexpr D() : B(global) { }             // ill-formed, no diagnostic required
                                            // lvalue-to-rvalue conversion on non-constant global
};

 — end example ]

If the instantiated template specialization of a constexpr function template or member function of a class template would fail to satisfy the requirements for a constexpr function or constexpr constructor, that specialization is not a constexpr function or constexpr constructor. [ Note: If the function is a member function it will still be const as described below.  — end note ] If no specialization of the template would yield a constexpr function or constexpr constructor, the program is ill-formed; no diagnostic required.

A call to a constexpr function produces the same result as a call to an equivalent non-constexpr function in all respects except that a call to a constexpr function can appear in a constant expression.

A constexpr specifier for a non-static member function that is not a constructor declares that member function to be const ([class.mfct.non-static]). [ Note: The constexpr specifier has no other effect on the function type. — end note ] The keyword const is ignored if it appears in the cv-qualifier-seq of the function declarator of the declaration of such a member function. The class of which that function is a member shall be a literal type ([basic.types]). [ Example:

class debug_flag { 
public: 
  explicit debug_flag(bool); 
  constexpr bool is_on();       // error: debug_flag not 
                                // literal type 
private: 
  bool flag; 
}; 
constexpr int bar(int x, int y) // OK 
    { return x + y + x*y; } 
// ... 
int bar(int x, int y)           // error: redefinition of bar
    { return x * 2 + 3 * y; } 

 — end example ]

A constexpr specifier used in an object declaration declares the object as const. Such an object shall have literal type and shall be initialized. If it is initialized by a constructor call, that call shall be a constant expression ([expr.const]). Otherwise, or if a constexpr specifier is used in a reference declaration, every full-expression that appears in its initializer shall be a constant expression. Each implicit conversion used in converting the initializer expressions and each constructor call used for the initialization shall be one of those allowed in a constant expression ([expr.const]). [ Example:

struct pixel { 
  int x, y; 
}; 
constexpr pixel ur = { 1294, 1024 };// OK 
constexpr pixel origin;             // error: initializer missing 

 — end example ]

The type-specifiers are

type-specifier:
    trailing-type-specifier
    class-specifier
    enum-specifier

trailing-type-specifier:
  simple-type-specifier
  elaborated-type-specifier
  typename-specifier
  cv-qualifier

type-specifier-seq:
    type-specifier attribute-specifier-seqopt
    type-specifier type-specifier-seq

trailing-type-specifier-seq:
  trailing-type-specifier attribute-specifier-seqopt
  trailing-type-specifier trailing-type-specifier-seq

The optional attribute-specifier-seq in a type-specifier-seq or a trailing-type-specifier-seq appertains to the type denoted by the preceding type-specifiers ([dcl.meaning]). The attribute-specifier-seq affects the type only for the declaration it appears in, not other declarations involving the same type.

As a general rule, at most one type-specifier is allowed in the complete decl-specifier-seq of a declaration or in a type-specifier-seq or trailing-type-specifier-seq. The only exceptions to this rule are the following:

• (2.1)

  const can be combined with any type specifier except itself.

• (2.2)

  volatile can be combined with any type specifier except itself.

• (2.3)

  signed or unsigned can be combined with char, long, short, or int.

• (2.4)

  short or long can be combined with int.

• (2.5)

  long can be combined with double.

• (2.6)

  long can be combined with long.

At least one type-specifier that is not a cv-qualifier is required in a declaration unless it declares a constructor, destructor or conversion function.92 A type-specifier-seq shall not define a class or enumeration unless it appears in the type-id of an alias-declaration ([dcl.typedef]) that is not the declaration of a template-declaration.

[ Note: enum-specifiers, class-specifiers, and typename-specifiers are discussed in [dcl.enum], [class], and [temp.res], respectively. The remaining type-specifiers are discussed in the rest of this section.  — end note ]