CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++c++11standards
Vlad Didenko
Vlad Didenko

Reputation: 4771

Which "standard" is the C++11 standard?

I am confused about what is a C++11 final standard and if there is such a thing, what are standard updates, and where is an authoritative and trustworthy source of that information.

ISO web site offers the "final standard" for purchase at their store which seems to be current as of the end of 2011.

However, the working group's web site offers multitude of "drafts" dated later than that ISO publication. The latest one I see posted on the working group's web site in November 2012 (pdf).

Does it mean that the working group has newer and updated spec for free, while ISO sells old and outdated documents for a fee? Or is it something else?

May be bere is an official link describing the relation between the documents? Official as opposed to committee members personal blog.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 625

Answers (2)

MSalters
MSalters

Reputation: 179779

The official documentation of the ISO standards process is of course available at ISO's website. This is a very generic description, as it covers subjects from ISO 9001 (process quality) to ISO/IEC 14882 (C++).

Upvotes: 0

Nicol Bolas
Nicol Bolas

Reputation: 473192

You need to make a distinction between "works in progress" (AKA: drafts) and the actual standard, as ratified by the ISO.

C++11 is an international standard, a specific document ratified by the ISO. There were many revisions that led to the final standard that was ratified, but those are just revisions, not the final standard.

Drafts of a standard are not a standard. They are drafts, the same way as downloading a random changelist from a Git repo is not a specific version of the application. Drafts are produced as works-in-progress towards some eventual standardization. But they are not standards, which is why they are called "working draft"s (that's what's on the title page).

Only actual ratified standards can make prior standards "outdated". And even then, they're not really out of date, because compilers don't instantly and magically support the new one. Nor is code instantly upgraded to support the new standard if there are breaking changes.

In short, if you want to learn about what C++11 says, the only document that defines C++11 is ISO/IEC 14882:2011: Standard For Programming Language C++. Anything produced before or since is not C++11. Though N3337 is pretty close, save minor editorial changes.

Upvotes: 7

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