6 Basics [basic]

6.8 Types [basic.types]

6.8.1 General [basic.types.general]

1
#
[Note 1:
[basic.types] and the subclauses thereof impose requirements on implementations regarding the representation of types.
There are two kinds of types: fundamental types and compound types.
Types describe objects, references, or functions.
— end note]
2
#
For any object (other than a potentially-overlapping subobject) of trivially copyable type T, whether or not the object holds a valid value of type T, the underlying bytes ([intro.memory]) making up the object can be copied into an array of char, unsigned char, or std​::​byte ([cstddef.syn]).40
If the content of that array is copied back into the object, the object shall subsequently hold its original value.
[Example 1: constexpr std::size_t N = sizeof(T); char buf[N]; T obj; // obj initialized to its original value std::memcpy(buf, &obj, N); // between these two calls to std​::​memcpy, obj might be modified std::memcpy(&obj, buf, N); // at this point, each subobject of obj of scalar type holds its original value — end example]
3
#
For any trivially copyable type T, if two pointers to T point to distinct T objects obj1 and obj2, where neither obj1 nor obj2 is a potentially-overlapping subobject, if the underlying bytes ([intro.memory]) making up obj1 are copied into obj2,41 obj2 shall subsequently hold the same value as obj1.
[Example 2: T* t1p; T* t2p; // provided that t2p points to an initialized object ... std::memcpy(t1p, t2p, sizeof(T)); // at this point, every subobject of trivially copyable type in *t1p contains // the same value as the corresponding subobject in *t2p — end example]
4
#
The object representation of an object of type T is the sequence of N unsigned char objects taken up by the object of type T, where N equals sizeof(T).
The value representation of an object of type T is the set of bits that participate in representing a value of type T.
Bits in the object representation that are not part of the value representation are padding bits.
For trivially copyable types, the value representation is a set of bits in the object representation that determines a value, which is one discrete element of an implementation-defined set of values.42
5
#
A class that has been declared but not defined, an enumeration type in certain contexts ([dcl.enum]), or an array of unknown bound or of incomplete element type, is an incompletely-defined object type.43
Incompletely-defined object types and cv void are incomplete types ([basic.fundamental]).
[Note 2:
Objects cannot be defined to have an incomplete type ([basic.def]).
— end note]
6
#
A class type (such as “class X”) can be incomplete at one point in a translation unit and complete later on; the type “class X” is the same type at both points.
The declared type of an array object can be an array of incomplete class type and therefore incomplete; if the class type is completed later on in the translation unit, the array type becomes complete; the array type at those two points is the same type.
The declared type of an array object can be an array of unknown bound and therefore be incomplete at one point in a translation unit and complete later on; the array types at those two points (“array of unknown bound of T” and “array of N T”) are different types.
The type of a pointer to array of unknown bound, or of a type defined by a typedef declaration to be an array of unknown bound, cannot be completed.
[Example 3: class X; // X is an incomplete type extern X* xp; // xp is a pointer to an incomplete type extern int arr[]; // the type of arr is incomplete typedef int UNKA[]; // UNKA is an incomplete type UNKA* arrp; // arrp is a pointer to an incomplete type UNKA** arrpp; void foo() { xp++; // error: X is incomplete arrp++; // error: incomplete type arrpp++; // OK: sizeof UNKA* is known } struct X { int i; }; // now X is a complete type int arr[10]; // now the type of arr is complete X x; void bar() { xp = &x; // OK; type is “pointer to X” arrp = &arr; // error: different types xp++; // OK: X is complete arrp++; // error: UNKA can't be completed } — end example]
7
#
[Note 3:
The rules for declarations and expressions describe in which contexts incomplete types are prohibited.
— end note]
8
#
An object type is a (possibly cv-qualified) type that is not a function type, not a reference type, and not cv void.
9
#
Arithmetic types ([basic.fundamental]), enumeration types, pointer types, pointer-to-member types ([basic.compound]), std​::​nullptr_­t, and cv-qualified versions of these types are collectively called scalar types.
Scalar types, trivially copyable class types ([class.prop]), arrays of such types, and cv-qualified versions of these types are collectively called trivially copyable types.
Scalar types, trivial class types ([class.prop]), arrays of such types and cv-qualified versions of these types are collectively called trivial types.
Scalar types, standard-layout class types ([class.prop]), arrays of such types and cv-qualified versions of these types are collectively called standard-layout types.
Scalar types, implicit-lifetime class types ([class.prop]), array types, and cv-qualified versions of these types are collectively called implicit-lifetime types.
10
#
A type is a literal type if it is:
  • (10.1)
    cv void; or
  • (10.2)
    a scalar type; or
  • (10.3)
    a reference type; or
  • (10.4)
    an array of literal type; or
  • (10.5)
    a possibly cv-qualified class type that has all of the following properties:
    • (10.5.1)
      it has a constexpr destructor ([dcl.constexpr]),
    • (10.5.2)
      it is either a closure type ([expr.prim.lambda.closure]), an aggregate type ([dcl.init.aggr]), or has at least one constexpr constructor or constructor template (possibly inherited from a base class) that is not a copy or move constructor,
    • (10.5.3)
      if it is a union, at least one of its non-static data members is of non-volatile literal type, and
    • (10.5.4)
      if it is not a union, all of its non-static data members and base classes are of non-volatile literal types.
[Note 4:
A literal type is one for which it might be possible to create an object within a constant expression.
It is not a guarantee that it is possible to create such an object, nor is it a guarantee that any object of that type will be usable in a constant expression.
— end note]
11
#
Two types cv1 T1 and cv2 T2 are layout-compatible types if T1 and T2 are the same type, layout-compatible enumerations, or layout-compatible standard-layout class types.
40)
By using, for example, the library functions ([headers]) std​::​memcpy or std​::​memmove.
 ⮥
41)
By using, for example, the library functions ([headers]) std​::​memcpy or std​::​memmove.
 ⮥
42)
The intent is that the memory model of C++ is compatible with that of ISO/IEC 9899 Programming Language C.
 ⮥
43)
The size and layout of an instance of an incompletely-defined object type is unknown.
 ⮥

6.8.2 Fundamental types [basic.fundamental]

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There are five standard signed integer types: “signed char”, “short int”, “int”, “long int”, and “long long int”.
In this list, each type provides at least as much storage as those preceding it in the list.
There may also be implementation-defined extended signed integer types.
The standard and extended signed integer types are collectively called signed integer types.
The range of representable values for a signed integer type is to (inclusive), where N is called the width of the type.
[Note 1:
Plain ints are intended to have the natural width suggested by the architecture of the execution environment; the other signed integer types are provided to meet special needs.
— end note]
2
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For each of the standard signed integer types, there exists a corresponding (but different) standard unsigned integer type: “unsigned char”, “unsigned short int”, “unsigned int”, “unsigned long int”, and “unsigned long long int”.
Likewise, for each of the extended signed integer types, there exists a corresponding extended unsigned integer type.
The standard and extended unsigned integer types are collectively called unsigned integer types.
An unsigned integer type has the same width N as the corresponding signed integer type.
The range of representable values for the unsigned type is 0 to (inclusive); arithmetic for the unsigned type is performed modulo .
[Note 2:
Unsigned arithmetic does not overflow.
Overflow for signed arithmetic yields undefined behavior ([expr.pre]).
— end note]
3
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An unsigned integer type has the same object representation, value representation, and alignment requirements ([basic.align]) as the corresponding signed integer type.
For each value x of a signed integer type, the value of the corresponding unsigned integer type congruent to x modulo has the same value of corresponding bits in its value representation.44
[Example 1:
The value of a signed integer type has the same representation as the largest value of the corresponding unsigned type.
— end example]
Table 12: Minimum width [tab:basic.fundamental.width]
Type
Minimum width N
signed char
8
short int
16
int
16
long int
32
long long int
64
4
#
The width of each signed integer type shall not be less than the values specified in Table 12.
The value representation of a signed or unsigned integer type comprises N bits, where N is the respective width.
Each set of values for any padding bits ([basic.types]) in the object representation are alternative representations of the value specified by the value representation.
[Note 3:
Padding bits have unspecified value, but cannot cause traps.
In contrast, see ISO C 6.2.6.2.
— end note]
[Note 4:
The signed and unsigned integer types satisfy the constraints given in ISO C 5.2.4.2.1.
— end note]
Except as specified above, the width of a signed or unsigned integer type is implementation-defined.
5
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Each value x of an unsigned integer type with width N has a unique representation , where each coefficient is either 0 or 1; this is called the base-2 representation of x.
The base-2 representation of a value of signed integer type is the base-2 representation of the congruent value of the corresponding unsigned integer type.
The standard signed integer types and standard unsigned integer types are collectively called the standard integer types, and the extended signed integer types and extended unsigned integer types are collectively called the extended integer types.
6
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A fundamental type specified to have a signed or unsigned integer type as its underlying type has the same object representation, value representation, alignment requirements ([basic.align]), and range of representable values as the underlying type.
Further, each value has the same representation in both types.
7
#
Type char is a distinct type that has an implementation-defined choice of “signed char” or “unsigned char” as its underlying type.
The values of type char can represent distinct codes for all members of the implementation's basic character set.
The three types char, signed char, and unsigned char are collectively called ordinary character types.
The ordinary character types and char8_­t are collectively called narrow character types.
For narrow character types, each possible bit pattern of the object representation represents a distinct value.
[Note 5:
This requirement does not hold for other types.
— end note]
[Note 6:
A bit-field of narrow character type whose width is larger than the width of that type has padding bits; see [basic.types].
— end note]
8
#
Type wchar_­t is a distinct type that has an implementation-defined signed or unsigned integer type as its underlying type.
The values of type wchar_­t can represent distinct codes for all members of the largest extended character set specified among the supported locales ([locale]).
9
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Type char8_­t denotes a distinct type whose underlying type is unsigned char.
Types char16_­t and char32_­t denote distinct types whose underlying types are uint_­least16_­t and uint_­least32_­t, respectively, in <cstdint>.
10
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Type bool is a distinct type that has the same object representation, value representation, and alignment requirements as an implementation-defined unsigned integer type.
The values of type bool are true and false.
[Note 7:
There are no signed, unsigned, short, or long bool types or values.
— end note]
11
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Types bool, char, wchar_­t, char8_­t, char16_­t, char32_­t, and the signed and unsigned integer types are collectively called integral types.
A synonym for integral type is integer type.
[Note 8:
Enumerations ([dcl.enum]) are not integral; however, unscoped enumerations can be promoted to integral types as specified in [conv.prom].
— end note]
12
#
There are three floating-point types: float, double, and long double.
The type double provides at least as much precision as float, and the type long double provides at least as much precision as double.
The set of values of the type float is a subset of the set of values of the type double; the set of values of the type double is a subset of the set of values of the type long double.
The value representation of floating-point types is implementation-defined.
[Note 9:
This document imposes no requirements on the accuracy of floating-point operations; see also [support.limits].
— end note]
Integral and floating-point types are collectively called arithmetic types.
Specializations of the standard library template std​::​numeric_­limits shall specify the maximum and minimum values of each arithmetic type for an implementation.
13
#
A type cv void is an incomplete type that cannot be completed; such a type has an empty set of values.
It is used as the return type for functions that do not return a value.
Any expression can be explicitly converted to type cv void ([expr.type.conv], [expr.static.cast], [expr.cast]).
An expression of type cv void shall be used only as an expression statement, as an operand of a comma expression, as a second or third operand of ?: ([expr.cond]), as the operand of typeid, noexcept, or decltype, as the expression in a return statement for a function with the return type cv void, or as the operand of an explicit conversion to type cv void.
14
#
A value of type std​::​nullptr_­t is a null pointer constant.
Such values participate in the pointer and the pointer-to-member conversions ([conv.ptr], [conv.mem]).
sizeof(std​::​nullptr_­t) shall be equal to sizeof(void*).
15
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The types described in this subclause are called fundamental types.
[Note 10:
Even if the implementation defines two or more fundamental types to have the same value representation, they are nevertheless different types.
— end note]
44)
This is also known as two's complement representation.
 ⮥

6.8.3 Compound types [basic.compound]

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Compound types can be constructed in the following ways:
2
#
These methods of constructing types can be applied recursively; restrictions are mentioned in [dcl.meaning].
Constructing a type such that the number of bytes in its object representation exceeds the maximum value representable in the type std​::​size_­t ([support.types]) is ill-formed.
3
#
The type of a pointer to cv void or a pointer to an object type is called an object pointer type.
[Note 1:
A pointer to void does not have a pointer-to-object type, however, because void is not an object type.
— end note]
The type of a pointer that can designate a function is called a function pointer type.
A pointer to an object of type T is referred to as a “pointer to T”.
[Example 1:
A pointer to an object of type int is referred to as “pointer to int” and a pointer to an object of class X is called a “pointer to X”.
— end example]
Except for pointers to static members, text referring to “pointers” does not apply to pointers to members.
Pointers to incomplete types are allowed although there are restrictions on what can be done with them ([basic.align]).
Every value of pointer type is one of the following:
A value of a pointer type that is a pointer to or past the end of an object represents the address of the first byte in memory ([intro.memory]) occupied by the object46 or the first byte in memory after the end of the storage occupied by the object, respectively.
[Note 2:
A pointer past the end of an object ([expr.add]) is not considered to point to an unrelated object of the object's type that might be located at that address.
A pointer value becomes invalid when the storage it denotes reaches the end of its storage duration; see [basic.stc].
— end note]
For purposes of pointer arithmetic ([expr.add]) and comparison ([expr.rel], [expr.eq]), a pointer past the end of the last element of an array x of n elements is considered to be equivalent to a pointer to a hypothetical array element n of x and an object of type T that is not an array element is considered to belong to an array with one element of type T.
The value representation of pointer types is implementation-defined.
Pointers to layout-compatible types shall have the same value representation and alignment requirements ([basic.align]).
[Note 3:
Pointers to over-aligned types have no special representation, but their range of valid values is restricted by the extended alignment requirement.
— end note]
4
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Two objects a and b are pointer-interconvertible if:
  • (4.1)
    they are the same object, or
  • (4.2)
    one is a union object and the other is a non-static data member of that object ([class.union]), or
  • (4.3)
    one is a standard-layout class object and the other is the first non-static data member of that object, or, if the object has no non-static data members, any base class subobject of that object ([class.mem]), or
  • (4.4)
    there exists an object c such that a and c are pointer-interconvertible, and c and b are pointer-interconvertible.
If two objects are pointer-interconvertible, then they have the same address, and it is possible to obtain a pointer to one from a pointer to the other via a reinterpret_­cast.
[Note 4:
An array object and its first element are not pointer-interconvertible, even though they have the same address.
— end note]
5
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A pointer to cv void can be used to point to objects of unknown type.
Such a pointer shall be able to hold any object pointer.
An object of type cv void* shall have the same representation and alignment requirements as cv char*.
45)
Static class members are objects or functions, and pointers to them are ordinary pointers to objects or functions.
 ⮥
46)
For an object that is not within its lifetime, this is the first byte in memory that it will occupy or used to occupy.
 ⮥

6.8.4 CV-qualifiers [basic.type.qualifier]

1
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Each type which is a cv-unqualified object type or is void ([basic.types]) has three corresponding cv-qualified versions of its type: a const-qualified version, a volatile-qualified version, and a const-volatile-qualified version.
The type of an object ([intro.object]) includes the cv-qualifiers specified in the decl-specifier-seq ([dcl.spec]), declarator ([dcl.decl]), type-id ([dcl.name]), or new-type-id ([expr.new]) when the object is created.
  • (1.1)
    A const object is an object of type const T or a non-mutable subobject of a const object.
  • (1.2)
    A volatile object is an object of type volatile T or a subobject of a volatile object.
  • (1.3)
    A const volatile object is an object of type const volatile T, a non-mutable subobject of a const volatile object, a const subobject of a volatile object, or a non-mutable volatile subobject of a const object.
The cv-qualified or cv-unqualified versions of a type are distinct types; however, they shall have the same representation and alignment requirements ([basic.align]).47
2
#
Except for array types, a compound type ([basic.compound]) is not cv-qualified by the cv-qualifiers (if any) of the types from which it is compounded.
3
#
An array type whose elements are cv-qualified is also considered to have the same cv-qualifications as its elements.
[Note 1:
Cv-qualifiers applied to an array type attach to the underlying element type, so the notation “cv T”, where T is an array type, refers to an array whose elements are so-qualified ([dcl.array]).
— end note]
[Example 1: typedef char CA[5]; typedef const char CC; CC arr1[5] = { 0 }; const CA arr2 = { 0 };
The type of both arr1 and arr2 is “array of 5 const char”, and the array type is considered to be const-qualified.
— end example]
4
#
[Note 2:
See [dcl.fct] and [class.this] regarding function types that have cv-qualifiers.
— end note]
5
#
There is a partial ordering on cv-qualifiers, so that a type can be said to be more cv-qualified than another.
Table 13 shows the relations that constitute this ordering.
Table 13: Relations on const and volatile [tab:basic.type.qualifier.rel]
no cv-qualifier
<
const
no cv-qualifier
<
volatile
no cv-qualifier
<
const volatile
const
<
const volatile
volatile
<
const volatile
6
#
In this document, the notation cv (or cv1, cv2, etc.)
, used in the description of types, represents an arbitrary set of cv-qualifiers, i.e., one of {const}, {volatile}, {const, volatile}, or the empty set.
For a type cv T, the top-level cv-qualifiers of that type are those denoted by cv.
[Example 2:
The type corresponding to the type-id const int& has no top-level cv-qualifiers.
The type corresponding to the type-id volatile int * const has the top-level cv-qualifier const.
For a class type C, the type corresponding to the type-id void (C​::​* volatile)(int) const has the top-level cv-qualifier volatile.
— end example]
47)
The same representation and alignment requirements are meant to imply interchangeability as arguments to functions, return values from functions, and non-static data members of unions.
 ⮥

6.8.5 Integer conversion rank [conv.rank]

1
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Every integer type has an integer conversion rank defined as follows:
  • (1.1)
    No two signed integer types other than char and signed char (if char is signed) shall have the same rank, even if they have the same representation.
  • (1.2)
    The rank of a signed integer type shall be greater than the rank of any signed integer type with a smaller width.
  • (1.3)
    The rank of long long int shall be greater than the rank of long int, which shall be greater than the rank of int, which shall be greater than the rank of short int, which shall be greater than the rank of signed char.
  • (1.4)
    The rank of any unsigned integer type shall equal the rank of the corresponding signed integer type.
  • (1.5)
    The rank of any standard integer type shall be greater than the rank of any extended integer type with the same width.
  • (1.6)
    The rank of char shall equal the rank of signed char and unsigned char.
  • (1.7)
    The rank of bool shall be less than the rank of all other standard integer types.
  • (1.8)
    The ranks of char8_­t, char16_­t, char32_­t, and wchar_­t shall equal the ranks of their underlying types ([basic.fundamental]).
  • (1.9)
    The rank of any extended signed integer type relative to another extended signed integer type with the same width is implementation-defined, but still subject to the other rules for determining the integer conversion rank.
  • (1.10)
    For all integer types T1, T2, and T3, if T1 has greater rank than T2 and T2 has greater rank than T3, then T1 shall have greater rank than T3.
[Note 1:
The integer conversion rank is used in the definition of the integral promotions ([conv.prom]) and the usual arithmetic conversions ([expr.arith.conv]).
— end note]