pw_polyfill

The pw_polyfill module backports new C++ features to C++14.

Backport new C++ features to older C++ standards

The main purpose of pw_polyfill is to bring new C++ library and language features to older C++ standards. No additional #include statements are required to use these features; simply write code assuming that the features are available. This implicit feature backporting is provided through the overrides library in the pw_polyfill module. GN automatically adds this library as a dependency in pw_source_set.

pw_polyfill backports C++ library features by wrapping the standard C++ and C headers. The wrapper headers include the original header using #include_next, then add missing features. The backported features are only defined if they aren’t provided by the standard header, so pw_polyfill is safe to use when compiling with any standard C++14 or newer.

The wrapper headers are in public_overrides. These are provided through the "$dir_pw_polyfill:overrides" library, which the GN build adds as a dependency for all targets. To apply overrides in Bazel or CMake, depend on the //pw_polyfill:overrides or pw_polyfill.overrides targets.

Backported features

Header	Feature	Level of support	Feature test macro
<bit>	std::endian	full	__cpp_lib_endian
<cstdlib>	std::byte	full	__cpp_lib_byte
<iterator>	std::data, std::size	full	__cpp_lib_nonmember_container_access
<type_traits>	*_t trait aliases	partial (can expand as needed)	__cpp_lib_transformation_trait_aliases
<type_traits>	std::is_null_pointer	full	__cpp_lib_is_null_pointer
<utilty>	std::integer_sequence & helpers	full	__cpp_lib_integer_sequence
(language feature)	static_assert with no message	full	__cpp_static_assert

Adapt code to compile with different versions of C++

pw_polyfill provides features for adapting to different C++ standards when pw_polyfill:overrides’s automatic backporting is insufficient:

• pw_polyfill/standard.h – provides a macro for checking the C++ standard

• pw_polyfill/language_feature_macros.h – provides macros for adapting code to work with or without newer language features

Language feature macros

Macro	Feature	Description	Feature test macro
PW_INLINE_VARIABLE	inline variables	inline if supported by the compiler	__cpp_inline_variables
PW_CONSTEXPR_CPP20	constexpr in C++20	constexpr if compiling for C++20	__cplusplus >= 202002L
PW_CONSTEVAL	consteval	consteval if supported by the compiler	__cpp_consteval
PW_CONSTINIT	constinit	constinit in clang and GCC 10+	__cpp_constinit

In GN, Bazel, or CMake, depend on $dir_pw_polyfill, //pw_polyfill, or pw_polyfill, respectively, to access these features. In other build systems, add pw_polyfill/standard_library_public and pw_polyfill/public_overrides as include paths.

Compatibility

C++14