1=========================================
2Libc++ 14.0.0 (In-Progress) Release Notes
3=========================================
4
5.. contents::
6   :local:
7   :depth: 2
8
9Written by the `Libc++ Team <https://libcxx.llvm.org>`_
10
11.. warning::
12
13   These are in-progress notes for the upcoming libc++ 14 release.
14   Release notes for previous releases can be found on
15   `the Download Page <https://releases.llvm.org/download.html>`_.
16
17Introduction
18============
19
20This document contains the release notes for the libc++ C++ Standard Library,
21part of the LLVM Compiler Infrastructure, release 14.0.0. Here we describe the
22status of libc++ in some detail, including major improvements from the previous
23release and new feature work. For the general LLVM release notes, see `the LLVM
24documentation <https://llvm.org/docs/ReleaseNotes.html>`_. All LLVM releases may
25be downloaded from the `LLVM releases web site <https://llvm.org/releases/>`_.
26
27For more information about libc++, please see the `Libc++ Web Site
28<https://libcxx.llvm.org>`_ or the `LLVM Web Site <https://llvm.org>`_.
29
30Note that if you are reading this file from a Git checkout or the
31main Libc++ web page, this document applies to the *next* release, not
32the current one. To see the release notes for a specific release, please
33see the `releases page <https://llvm.org/releases/>`_.
34
35What's New in Libc++ 14.0.0?
36============================
37
38New Features
39------------
40
41- There's initial support for the C++20 header ``<format>``. The implementation
42  is incomplete. Some functions are known to be inefficient; both in memory
43  usage and performance. The implementation is considered experimental and isn't
44  considered ABI stable.
45
46- There's a new CMake option ``LIBCXX_ENABLE_UNICODE`` to disable Unicode
47  support in the ``<format>`` header. This only affects the estimation of the
48  output width of the format functions.
49
50- Support for building libc++ on top of a C Standard Library that does not support ``wchar_t`` was
51  added. This is useful for building libc++ in an embedded setting, and it adds itself to the various
52  freestanding-friendly options provided by libc++.
53
54- ``_LIBCPP_DEBUG`` equals to ``1`` enables the randomization of unspecified
55  behavior of standard algorithms (e.g. equal elements in ``std::sort`` or
56  randomization of both sides of partition for ``std::nth_element``)
57
58- Floating-point support for ``std::to_chars`` support has been added.
59  Thanks to Stephan T. Lavavej and Microsoft for providing their implementation
60  to libc++.
61
62API Changes
63-----------
64
65- The functions ``std::atomic<T*>::fetch_(add|sub)`` and
66  ``std::atomic_fetch_(add|sub)`` no longer accept a function pointer. While
67  this is technically an API break, the invalid syntax isn't supported by
68  libstdc++ and MSVC STL.  See https://godbolt.org/z/49fvzz98d.
69
70- The call of the functions ``std::atomic_(add|sub)(std::atomic<T*>*, ...)``
71  with the explicit template argument ``T`` are now ill-formed. While this is
72  technically an API break, the invalid syntax isn't supported by libstdc++ and
73  MSVC STL. See https://godbolt.org/z/v9959re3v.
74
75  Due to this change it's now possible to call these functions with the
76  explicit template argument ``T*``. This allows using the same syntax on the
77  major Standard library implementations.
78  See https://godbolt.org/z/oEfzPhTTb.
79
80  Calls to these functions where the template argument was deduced by the
81  compiler are unaffected by this change.
82
83- The functions ``std::allocator<T>::allocate`` and
84  ``std::experimental::pmr::polymorphic_allocator<T>::allocate`` now throw
85  an exception of type ``std::bad_array_new_length`` when the requested size
86  exceeds the maximum supported size, as required by the C++ standard.
87  Previously the type ``std::length_error`` was used.
88
89- Removed the nonstandard methods ``std::chrono::file_clock::to_time_t`` and
90  ``std::chrono::file_clock::from_time_t``; neither libstdc++ nor MSVC STL
91  had such methods. Instead, in C++20, you can use ``std::chrono::file_clock::from_sys``
92  and ``std::chrono::file_clock::to_sys``, which are specified in the Standard.
93  If you are not using C++20, you should move to it.
94
95- The declarations of functions ``declare_reachable``, ``undeclare_reachable``, ``declare_no_pointers``,
96  ``undeclare_no_pointers``, and ``get_pointer_safety`` have been removed not only from C++2b but
97  from all modes. Their symbols are still provided by the dynamic library for the benefit of
98  existing compiled code. All of these functions have always behaved as no-ops.
99
100- ``std::filesystem::path::iterator``, which (in our implementation) stashes
101  a ``path`` value inside itself similar to ``istream_iterator``, now sets its
102  ``reference`` type to ``path`` and its ``iterator_category`` to ``input_iterator_tag``,
103  so that it is a conforming input iterator in C++17 and a conforming
104  ``std::bidirectional_iterator`` in C++20. Before this release, it had set its
105  ``reference`` type to ``const path&`` and its ``iterator_category`` to
106  ``bidirectional_iterator_tag``, making it a non-conforming bidirectional iterator.
107  After this change, ``for`` loops of the form ``for (auto& c : path)`` must be rewritten
108  as either ``for (auto&& c : path)`` or ``for (const auto& c : path)``.
109  ``std::reverse_iterator<path::iterator>`` is no longer rejected.
110
111
112ABI Changes
113-----------
114
115- The C++17 variable templates ``is_error_code_enum_v`` and
116  ``is_error_condition_enum_v`` are now of type ``bool`` instead of ``size_t``.
117
118- The C++03 emulation type for ``std::nullptr_t`` has been removed in favor of
119  using ``decltype(nullptr)`` in all standard modes. This is an ABI break for
120  anyone compiling in C++03 mode and who has ``std::nullptr_t`` as part of their
121  ABI. However, previously, these users' ABI would be incompatible with any other
122  binary or static archive compiled with C++11 or later. If you start seeing linker
123  errors involving ``std::nullptr_t`` against previously compiled binaries, this may
124  be the cause. You can define the ``_LIBCPP_ABI_USE_CXX03_NULLPTR_EMULATION`` macro
125  to return to the previous behavior. That macro will be removed in LLVM 15. Please
126  comment `on D109459 <https://reviews.llvm.org/D109459>`_ if you are broken by this change
127  and need to define the macro.
128
129- On Apple platforms, ``std::random_device`` is now implemented on top of ``arc4random()``
130  instead of reading from ``/dev/urandom``. Any implementation-defined token used when
131  constructing a ``std::random_device`` will now be ignored instead of interpreted as a
132  file to read entropy from.
133
134- ``std::lognormal_distribution::param_type`` used to store a data member of type
135  ``std::normal_distribution``; now this member is stored in the ``lognormal_distribution``
136  class itself, and the ``param_type`` stores only the mean and standard deviation,
137  as required by the Standard. This changes ``sizeof(std::lognormal_distribution::param_type)``.
138  You can define the ``_LIBCPP_ABI_OLD_LOGNORMAL_DISTRIBUTION`` macro to return to the
139  previous behavior. That macro will be removed in LLVM 15. Please comment
140  `on PR52906 <https://llvm.org/PR52906>`_ if you are broken by this change and need to
141  define the macro.
142
143Build System Changes
144--------------------
145
146- Building the libc++ shared or static library requires a C++ 20 capable compiler.
147  Consider using a Bootstrapping build to build libc++ with a fresh Clang if you
148  can't use the system compiler to build libc++ anymore.
149
150- Historically, there has been numerous ways of building libc++ and libc++abi. This has
151  culminated in over 5 different ways to build the runtimes, which made it impossible to
152  maintain with a good level of support. Starting with this release, the runtimes support
153  exactly two ways of being built, which should cater to all use-cases. Furthermore,
154  these builds are as lightweight as possible and will work consistently even when targeting
155  embedded platforms, which used not to be the case. Please see the documentation on building
156  libc++ to see those two ways of building and migrate over to the appropriate build instructions
157  as soon as possible.
158
159  All other ways to build are deprecated and will not be supported in the next release.
160  We understand that making these changes can be daunting. For that reason, here's a
161  summary of how to migrate from the two most common ways to build:
162
163  - If you were rooting your CMake invocation at ``<monorepo>/llvm`` and passing ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS=<...>``
164    (which was the previously advertised way to build the runtimes), please simply root your CMake invocation at
165    ``<monorepo>/runtimes`` and pass ``-DLLVM_ENABLE_RUNTIMES=<...>``.
166
167  - If you were doing two CMake invocations, one rooted at ``<monorepo>/libcxx`` and one rooted at
168    ``<monorepo>/libcxxabi`` (this used to be called a "Standalone build"), please move them to a
169    single invocation like so:
170
171    .. code-block:: bash
172
173        $ cmake -S <monorepo>/libcxx -B libcxx-build <LIBCXX-OPTIONS>
174        $ cmake -S <monorepo>/libcxxabi -B libcxxabi-build <LIBCXXABI-OPTIONS>
175
176    should become
177
178    .. code-block:: bash
179
180        $ cmake -S <monorepo>/runtimes -B build -DLLVM_ENABLE_RUNTIMES="libcxx;libcxxabi" <LIBCXX-OPTIONS> <LIBCXXABI-OPTIONS>
181
182- Support for building the runtimes using the GCC 32 bit multilib flag (``-m32``) has been removed. Support
183  for this had been flaky for a while, and we didn't know of anyone depending on this. Instead, please perform
184  a normal cross-compilation of the runtimes using the appropriate target, such as passing the following to
185  your bootstrapping build:
186
187  .. code-block:: bash
188
189      -DLLVM_RUNTIME_TARGETS=i386-unknown-linux
190
191- Libc++, libc++abi and libunwind will not be built with ``-fPIC`` by default anymore.
192  If you want to build those runtimes with position independent code, please specify
193  ``-DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON`` explicitly when configuring the build, or
194  ``-DRUNTIMES_<target-name>_CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON`` if using the
195  bootstrapping build.
196