C++17 Filesystem Support Lands In LLVM's Libc++ Library

[phoronix]

Phoronix: C++17 Filesystem Support Lands In LLVM's Libc++ Library

This week support for the official C++17 "filesystem" feature landed within LLVM's libc++ standard library...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Filesystem-Lands-LLVM-Libcpp

[wizard69]

If the committee keeps fleshing out C++ it might be worth reconsidering it as a programming option.

[dwagner]

Is that libc++ filesystem support based on native system calls, or is it a wrapper around the POSIX functions in libc?

[jacob]

If the committee keeps fleshing out C++ it might be worth reconsidering it as a programming option.

The way they keep fleshing out C++ is a great upgrade path for existing projects, and new projects in teams who won't be adopting a new language any time soon. It allows them to preserve all their existing base and still have access to modern programming features. Of course, for projects starting from scratch I'll always prefer Rust, Go or D, depending on the context.

[jacob]

Is that libc++ filesystem support based on native system calls, or is it a wrapper around the POSIX functions in libc?

I haven't looked at it but I presume it will be things like path concatenation etc., which is implemented mainly as a library only.

[carewolf]

I haven't looked at it but I presume it will be things like path concatenation etc., which is implemented mainly as a library only.

No, it is file system access. POSIX style so not fully 'native' on Windows and macOS but perfectly usable, and in fact driven by Microsoft. The committee is also coming with network module, though it was been postponed.

I would still prefer Qt though

[clavko]

It is both file access and classes for path concatenation/trimming etc., It's based on Boost::Filesystem, if I'm correct, but not sure how much of the original library features were standardized. It may be that it's "driven by Microsoft", but it lacks some "Windows features", afaik, most prominent of these is ACLs - standard unix rwx is supported only.

[nslay]

The way they keep fleshing out C++ is a great upgrade path for existing projects, and new projects in teams who won't be adopting a new language any time soon. It allows them to preserve all their existing base and still have access to modern programming features. Of course, for projects starting from scratch I'll always prefer Rust, Go or D, depending on the context.

It also helps these projects amputate their boost dependency. There will be very little excuse to need boost in the future (I can only hope!).