Determining 32 vs 64 bit in C++

Unfortunately there is no cross platform macro which defines 32 / 64 bit across the major compilers. I've found the most effective way to do this is the following.

First I pick my own representation. I prefer ENVIRONMENT64 / ENVIRONMENT32. Then I find out what all of the major compilers use for determining if it's a 64 bit environment or not and use that to set my variables.

// Check windows
#if _WIN32 || _WIN64
#if _WIN64
#define ENVIRONMENT64
#else
#define ENVIRONMENT32
#endif
#endif

// Check GCC
#if __GNUC__
#if __x86_64__ || __ppc64__
#define ENVIRONMENT64
#else
#define ENVIRONMENT32
#endif
#endif

Another easier route is to simply set these variables from the compiler command line.

template<int> void DoMyOperationHelper();

template<> void DoMyOperationHelper<4>() 
{
  // do 32-bits operations
}

template<> void DoMyOperationHelper<8>() 
{
  // do 64-bits operations
}

// helper function just to hide clumsy syntax
inline void DoMyOperation() { DoMyOperationHelper<sizeof(size_t)>(); }

int main()
{
  // appropriate function will be selected at compile time 
  DoMyOperation(); 

  return 0;
}

Unfortunately, in a cross platform, cross compiler environment, there is no single reliable method to do this purely at compile time.

Both _WIN32 and _WIN64 can sometimes both be undefined, if the project settings are flawed or corrupted (particularly on Visual Studio 2008 SP1).
A project labelled "Win32" could be set to 64-bit, due to a project configuration error.
On Visual Studio 2008 SP1, sometimes the intellisense does not grey out the correct parts of the code, according to the current #define. This makes it difficult to see exactly which #define is being used at compile time.

Therefore, the only reliable method is to combine 3 simple checks:

1) Compile time setting, and;
2) Runtime check, and;
3) Robust compile time checking.

Simple check 1/3: Compile time setting

Choose any method to set the required #define variable. I suggest the method from @JaredPar:

// Check windows
#if _WIN32 || _WIN64
   #if _WIN64
     #define ENV64BIT
  #else
    #define ENV32BIT
  #endif
#endif

// Check GCC
#if __GNUC__
  #if __x86_64__ || __ppc64__
    #define ENV64BIT
  #else
    #define ENV32BIT
  #endif
#endif

Simple check 2/3: Runtime check

In main(), double check to see if sizeof() makes sense:

#if defined(ENV64BIT)
    if (sizeof(void*) != 8)
    {
        wprintf(L"ENV64BIT: Error: pointer should be 8 bytes. Exiting.");
        exit(0);
    }
    wprintf(L"Diagnostics: we are running in 64-bit mode.\n");
#elif defined (ENV32BIT)
    if (sizeof(void*) != 4)
    {
        wprintf(L"ENV32BIT: Error: pointer should be 4 bytes. Exiting.");
        exit(0);
    }
    wprintf(L"Diagnostics: we are running in 32-bit mode.\n");
#else
    #error "Must define either ENV32BIT or ENV64BIT".
#endif

Simple check 3/3: Robust compile time checking

The general rule is "every #define must end in a #else which generates an error".

#if defined(ENV64BIT)
    // 64-bit code here.
#elif defined (ENV32BIT)
    // 32-bit code here.
#else
    // INCREASE ROBUSTNESS. ALWAYS THROW AN ERROR ON THE ELSE.
    // - What if I made a typo and checked for ENV6BIT instead of ENV64BIT?
    // - What if both ENV64BIT and ENV32BIT are not defined?
    // - What if project is corrupted, and _WIN64 and _WIN32 are not defined?
    // - What if I didn't include the required header file?
    // - What if I checked for _WIN32 first instead of second?
    //   (in Windows, both are defined in 64-bit, so this will break codebase)
    // - What if the code has just been ported to a different OS?
    // - What if there is an unknown unknown, not mentioned in this list so far?
    // I'm only human, and the mistakes above would break the *entire* codebase.
    #error "Must define either ENV32BIT or ENV64BIT"
#endif

Update 2017-01-17

Comment from @AI.G:

4 years later (don't know if it was possible before) you can convert the run-time check to compile-time one using static assert: static_assert(sizeof(void*) == 4);. Now it's all done at compile time :)

Appendix A

Incidentially, the rules above can be adapted to make your entire codebase more reliable:

Every if() statement ends in an "else" which generates a warning or error.
Every switch() statement ends in a "default:" which generates a warning or error.

The reason why this works well is that it forces you to think of every single case in advance, and not rely on (sometimes flawed) logic in the "else" part to execute the correct code.

I used this technique (among many others) to write a 30,000 line project that worked flawlessly from the day it was first deployed into production (that was 12 months ago).

You should be able to use the macros defined in stdint.h. In particular INTPTR_MAX is exactly the value you need.

#include <cstdint>
#if INTPTR_MAX == INT32_MAX
    #define THIS_IS_32_BIT_ENVIRONMENT
#elif INTPTR_MAX == INT64_MAX
    #define THIS_IS_64_BIT_ENVIRONMENT
#else
    #error "Environment not 32 or 64-bit."
#endif

Some (all?) versions of Microsoft's compiler don't come with stdint.h. Not sure why, since it's a standard file. Here's a version you can use: http://msinttypes.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/stdint.h