xref: /netbsd-src/external/apache2/llvm/dist/libcxx/docs/DesignDocs/ABIVersioning.rst (revision 4d6fc14bc9b0c5bf3e30be318c143ee82cadd108)
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2*4d6fc14bSjoerg====================
3*4d6fc14bSjoergLibc++ ABI stability
4*4d6fc14bSjoerg====================
5*4d6fc14bSjoerg
6*4d6fc14bSjoergLibc++ aims to preserve stable ABI to avoid subtle bugs when code built to the old ABI
7*4d6fc14bSjoergis linked with the code build to the new ABI. At the same time, libc++ allows ABI-breaking
8*4d6fc14bSjoergimprovements and bugfixes for the scenarios when ABI change is not a issue.
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10*4d6fc14bSjoergTo support both cases, libc++ allows specifying the ABI version at the
11*4d6fc14bSjoergbuild time.  The version is defined with a cmake option
12*4d6fc14bSjoergLIBCXX_ABI_VERSION. Another option LIBCXX_ABI_UNSTABLE can be used to
13*4d6fc14bSjoerginclude all present ABI breaking features. These options translate
14*4d6fc14bSjoerginto C++ macro definitions _LIBCPP_ABI_VERSION, _LIBCPP_ABI_UNSTABLE.
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16*4d6fc14bSjoergAny ABI-changing feature is placed under it's own macro, _LIBCPP_ABI_XXX, which is enabled
17*4d6fc14bSjoergbased on the value of _LIBCPP_ABI_VERSION. _LIBCPP_ABI_UNSTABLE, if set, enables all features at once.
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