C++ Cookbook

1.24. Enforcing Strict Conformance to the C++ Standard

Problem

You want your compiler to accept only programs that conform to the C++ language standard.

Solution

Command-line options for specifying strict conformance to the C++ standard are listed in Table 1-37. Instructions for enforcing strict conformance from your IDE are given in Table 1-38.

Tip

Some of the compiler options I introduced in Table 1-6 can be considered conformance options. Examples include options to enable basic language features such as wide-character support, exceptions, and runtime type information. I’ve omitted these in Table 1-37.

Table 1-37. Enforcing strict conformance from the command line

Toolset	Command-line compiler options
GCC	-ansi -pedantic-errors
Visual C++	-Za
Intel (Windows)	-Za -Qms0
Intel (Linux)	-strict-ansi [19]
Metrowerks	-ansi strict -iso_templates on -msext off
Comeau (Windows)	—A
Comeau (Unix)	—strict or -A
Borland	-A [20]
Digital Mars	-A
[19] Versions of the Intel compiler for Linux prior to 9.0 used the option -strict_ansi. When using -strict-ansi or -strict_ansi, it may be necessary to enable Intel’s standard library, using the option -cxxlib-icc. [20] With the option -A, some of the standard headers from the STLPort library may fail to compile.

Table 1-38. Enforcing strict conformance from your IDE

IDE	Configuration
Visual C++	From your project’s property pages, go to Configuration Properties→ C/C++→ Language and set Disable Language Extensions, ...