How to declare constexpr extern?

Is it possible to declare a variable extern constexpr and define it in another file?

I tried it but the compiler gives error:

Declaration of constexpr variable 'i' is not a definition

in .h:

extern constexpr int i;

in .cpp:

constexpr int i = 10;

Solution 1:

no you can't do it, here's what the standard says (section 7.1.5):

1 The constexpr specifier shall be applied only to the definition of a variable or variable template, the declaration of a function or function template, or the declaration of a static data member of a literal type (3.9). If any declaration of a function, function template, or variable template has a constexpr specifier, then all its declarations shall contain the constexpr specifier. [Note: An explicit specialization can differ from the template declaration with respect to the constexpr specifier. Function parameters cannot be declared constexpr. — end note ]

some examples given by the standard:

  constexpr void square(int &x);  // OK: declaration
  constexpr int bufsz = 1024;  // OK: definition
  constexpr struct pixel {  // error: pixel is a type
    int x;
    int y;
    constexpr pixel(int);  // OK: declaration
  };

  extern constexpr int memsz; // error: not a definition

Solution 2:

C++17 inline variables

This awesome C++17 feature allow us to:

conveniently use just a single memory address for each constant
store it as a constexpr
do it in a single line from one header

main.cpp

#include <cassert>

#include "notmain.hpp"

int main() {
    // Both files see the same memory address.
    assert(&notmain_i == notmain_func());
    assert(notmain_i == 42);
}

notmain.hpp

#ifndef NOTMAIN_HPP
#define NOTMAIN_HPP

inline constexpr int notmain_i = 42;

const int* notmain_func();

#endif

notmain.cpp

#include "notmain.hpp"

const int* notmain_func() {
    return &notmain_i;
}

Compile and run:

g++ -c -o notmain.o -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic notmain.cpp
g++ -c -o main.o -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic main.cpp
g++ -o main -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic main.o notmain.o
./main

GitHub upstream.

The C++ standard guarantees that the addresses will be the same. C++17 N4659 standard draft 10.1.6 "The inline specifier":

6 An inline function or variable with external linkage shall have the same address in all translation units.

cppreference https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/inline explains that if static is not given, then it has external linkage.

Solution 3:

No. Extern constexpr does not make any sense. Please read http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/constexpr

i.e. the bit " it must be immediately constructed or assigned a value. "

Solution 4:

What you probably want is extern and constexpr initialization, e.g.:

// in header
extern const int g_n;

// in cpp
constexpr int g_n = 2;

This is support though in Visual Studio 2017 only through conformance mode:

/Zc:externConstexpr (Enable extern constexpr variables)
constexpr definition of extern const variable

Solution 5:

I agree with 'swang' above, but there is a consequence. Consider:

ExternHeader.hpp

extern int e; // Must be extern and defined in .cpp otherwise it is a duplicate symbol.

ExternHeader.cpp

#include "ExternHeader.hpp"
int e = 0;

ConstexprHeader.hpp

int constexpr c = 0; // Must be defined in header since constexpr must be initialized.

Include1.hpp

void print1();

Include1.cpp

#include "Include1.hpp"
#include "ExternHeader.hpp"
#include "ConstexprHeader.hpp"
#include <iostream>

void print1() {
    std::cout << "1: extern = " << &e << ", constexpr = " << &c << "\n";
}

Include2.hpp

void print2();

Include2.cpp

#include "Include2.hpp"
#include "ExternHeader.hpp"
#include "ConstexprHeader.hpp"
#include <iostream>

void print2() {
    std::cout << "2: extern = " << &e << ", constexpr = " << &c << "\n";
}

main.cpp

#include <iostream>
#include "Include1.hpp"
#include "Include2.hpp"

int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
    print1();
    print2();
    return 0;
}

Which prints:

1: extern = 0x1000020a8, constexpr = 0x100001ed0
2: extern = 0x1000020a8, constexpr = 0x100001ed4

IE the constexpr is allocated twice whereas the extern is allocated once. This is counterintuitive to me, since I 'expect' constexpr to be more optimized than extern.

Edit: const and constexpr have the same behaviour, with regard to allocation, therefore from that point of view the behaviour is as expected. Though, as I said, I was surprised when I came across the behaviour of constexpr.