C++ Dos and Don'ts

A Note About Usage

Unlike the style guide, the content of this page is advisory, not required. You can always deviate from something on this page, if the relevant author/reviewer/OWNERS agree that another course is better.

Minimize Code in Headers

Remove #includes you don't use. Unfortunately, Chromium lacks include-what-you-use ("IWYU") support, so there's no tooling to do this automatically. Look carefully when refactoring.
Where possible, forward-declare nested classes, then give the full declaration (and definition) in the .cc file.
Defining a class method in the declaration is an implicit request to inline it. Avoid this in header files except for cheap non-virtual getters and setters. Note that constructors and destructors can be more expensive than they appear and should also generally not be inlined.

Static variables

Dynamic initialization of function-scope static variables is thread-safe in Chromium (per standard C++11 behavior). Before 2017, this was thread-unsafe, and base::LazyInstance was widely used. This is no longer necessary. Background can be found in this thread and this thread.

void foo() {
  static int ok_count = ComputeTheCount();  // OK; a problem pre-2017.
  static int good_count = 42;               // Done before dynamic initialization.
  static constexpr int better_count = 42;   // Even better (likely inlined at compile time).
  static auto& object = *new Object;        // For class types.
}

Explicitly declare class copyability/movability

The Google Style Guide says classes can omit copy/move declarations or deletions "only if they are obvious". Because "obvious" is subjective and even the examples in the style guide take some thought to figure out, being explicit is clear, simple, and avoids any risk of accidental copying.

Declare or delete these operations in the public section, between other constructors and the destructor; DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN is deprecated. For a non-copyable/movable type, delete the copy operations (the move operations will be implicitly deleted); otherwise, declare either copy operations, move operations, or both (a non-declared pair will be implicitly deleted). Always declare or delete both construction and assignment, not just one (which can introduce subtle bugs).

class TypeName {
 public:
  TypeName(int arg);
  ...
  TypeName(const TypeName&) = delete;
  TypeName& operator=(const TypeName&) = delete;
  ...
  ~TypeName();
}

Variable initialization

There are myriad ways to initialize variables in C++. Prefer the following general rules:

Use assignment syntax when performing "simple" initialization with one or more literal values which will simply be composed into the object:
```
int i = 1;
std::string s = "Hello";
std::pair<bool, double> p = {true, 2.0};
std::vector<std::string> v = {"one", "two", "three"};
```
Using '=' here is no less efficient than "()" (the compiler won't generate a temp + copy), and ensures that only implicit constructors are called, so readers seeing this syntax can assume nothing complex or subtle is happening. Note that "{}" are allowed on the right side of the '=' here (e.g. when you're merely passing a set of initial values to a "simple" struct/ container constructor; see below items for contrast).
Use constructor syntax when construction performs significant logic, uses an explicit constructor, or in some other way is not intuitively "simple" to the reader:
```
MyClass c(1.7, false, "test");
std::vector<double> v(500, 0.97);  // Creates 500 copies of the provided initializer
```

Use C++11 "uniform init" syntax ("{}" without '=') only when neither of the above work:

class C {
 public:
  explicit C(bool b) { ... };
  ...
};
class UsesC {
  ...
 private:
  C c{true};  // Cannot use '=' since C() is explicit (and "()" is invalid syntax here)
};
class Vexing {
 public:
  explicit Vexing(const std::string& s) { ... };
  ...
};
void func() {
  Vexing v{std::string()};  // Using "()" here triggers "most vexing parse";
                            // "{}" is arguably more readable than "(())"
  ...
}

Never mix uniform init syntax with auto, since what it deduces is unlikely to be what was intended:
```
auto x{1};  // Until C++17, decltype(x) is std::initializer_list<int>, not int!
```

For more reading, please see abseil's Tip of the Week #88: Initialization: =, (), and {}.

Initialize members in the declaration where possible

If possible, initialize class members in their declarations, except where a member's value is explicitly set by every constructor.

This reduces the chance of uninitialized variables, documents default values in the declaration, and increases the number of constructors that can use =default (see below).

class C {
 public:
  C() : a_(2) {}
  C(int b) : a_(1), b_(b) {}

 private:
  int a_;          // Not necessary to init this since all constructors set it.
  int b_ = 0;      // Not all constructors set this.
  std::string c_;  // No initializer needed due to string's default constructor.
  base::WeakPtrFactory<C> factory_{this};
                   // {} allows calling of explicit constructors.
};

Note that it's possible to call functions or pass this and other expressions in initializers, so even some complex initializations can be done in the declaration.

Use `std::make_unique` and `base::MakeRefCounted` instead of bare `new`

When possible, avoid bare new by using std::make_unique<T>(...) and base::MakeRefCounted<T>(...):

// BAD: bare call to new; for refcounted types, not compatible with one-based
// refcounting.
return base::WrapUnique(new T(1, 2, 3));
return base::WrapRefCounted(new T(1, 2, 3));

// BAD: same as the above, plus mentions type names twice.
std::unique_ptr<T> t(new T(1, 2, 3));
scoped_refptr<T> t(new T(1, 2, 3));
return std::unique_ptr<T>(new T(1, 2, 3));
return scoped_refptr<T>(new T(1, 2, 3));

// OK, but verbose: type name still mentioned twice.
std::unique_ptr<T> t = std::make_unique<T>(1, 2, 3);
scoped_refptr<T> t = base::MakeRefCounted<T>(1, 2, 3);

// GOOD; make_unique<>/MakeRefCounted<> are clear enough indicators of the
// returned type.
auto t = std::make_unique<T>(1, 2, 3);
auto t = base::MakeRefCounted<T>(1, 2, 3);
return std::make_unique<T>(1, 2, 3);
return base::MakeRefCounted<T>(1, 2, 3);

Notes:

Never friend std::make_unique to work around constructor access restrictions. It will allow anyone to construct the class. Use base::WrapUnique in this case.

DON'T:

class Bad {
 public:
  std::unique_ptr<Bad> Create() { return std::make_unique<Bad>(); }
  // ...
 private:
  Bad();
  // ...
  friend std::unique_ptr<Bad> std::make_unique<Bad>();  // Lost access control
};

DO:

class Okay {
 public:
  // For explanatory purposes. If Create() adds no value, it is better just
  // to have a public constructor instead.
  std::unique_ptr<Okay> Create() { return base::WrapUnique(new Okay()); }
  // ...
 private:
  Okay();
  // ...
};

base::WrapUnique(new Foo) and base::WrapUnique(new Foo()) mean something different if Foo does not have a user-defined constructor. Don't make future maintainers guess whether you left off the '()' on purpose. Use std::make_unique<Foo>() instead. If you're intentionally leaving off the "()" as an optimization, please leave a comment.
```
auto a = base::WrapUnique(new A); // BAD: "()" omitted intentionally?
auto a = std::make_unique<A>();   // GOOD
// "()" intentionally omitted to avoid unnecessary zero-initialization.
// base::WrapUnique() does the wrong thing for array pointers.
auto array = std::unique_ptr<A[]>(new A[size]);
```

Do not use `auto` to deduce a raw pointer

Do not use auto when the type would be deduced to be a pointer type; this can cause confusion. Instead, specify the "pointer" part outside of auto:

auto item = new Item();  // BAD: auto deduces to Item*, type of `item` is Item*
auto* item = new Item(); // GOOD: auto deduces to Item, type of `item` is Item*

Use `const` correctly

For safety and simplicity, don't return pointers or references to non-const objects from const methods. Within that constraint, mark methods as const where possible. Avoid const_cast to remove const, except when implementing non-const getters in terms of const getters.

For more information, see Using Const Correctly.

Prefer to use `=default`

Use =default to define special member functions where possible, even if the default implementation is just {}. Be careful when defaulting move operations. Moved-from objects must be in a valid but unspecified state, i.e., they must satisfy the class invariants, and the default implementations may not achieve this.

class Good {
 public:
  // We can, and usually should, provide the default implementation separately
  // from the declaration.
  Good();

  // Use =default here for consistency, even though the implementation is {}.
  ~Good() = default;
  Good(const Good& other) = default;

 private:
  std::vector<int> v_;
};

Good::Good() = default;

Comment style

References to code in comments should be wrapped in ` ` pairs. Codesearch uses this as a heuristic for finding C++ symbols in comments and generating cross-references for that symbol. Historically, Chrome also used || pairs to delimit variable names; codesearch understands both conventions and will generate a cross-reference either way. Going forward, prefer the new style even if existing code uses the old one.

Class and type names: `FooClass`.
Function names: `FooFunction()`. The trailing parens disambiguate against class names, and occasionally, English words.
Variable names: `foo_var`.
Tracking comments for future improvements: // TODO(crbug.com/12345): ..., or, less optimally, // TODO(knowledgeable_username): .... Tracking bugs provide space to give background context and current status; a username might at least provide a starting point for asking about an issue.

// `FooImpl` implements the `FooBase` class.
// `FooFunction()` modifies `foo_member_`.
// TODO(crbug.com/1): Rename things to something more descriptive than "foo".

Named namespaces

Named namespaces are discouraged in top-level embedders (e.g., chrome/). See this thread for background and discussion.

Guarding with DCHECK_IS_ON()

Any code written inside a DCHECK() macro, or the various DCHECK_EQ() and similar macros, will be compiled out in builds where DCHECKs are disabled. That includes any non-debug build where the dcheck_always_on GN arg is not present.

Thus even if your DHECK() would perform some expensive operation, you can be confident that code within the macro will not run in our official release builds, and that the linker will consider any function it calls to be dead code if it's not used elsewhere.

However, if your DCHECK() relies on work that is done outside of the DCHECK() macro, that work may not be eliminated in official release builds. Thus any code that is only present to support a DCHECK() should be guarded by if constexpr (DCHECK_IS_ON()) (see the next item) or #if DCHECK_IS_ON() to avoid including that code in official release builds.

This code is fine without any guards for DCHECK_IS_ON().

void ExpensiveStuff() { ... }  // No problem.

// The ExpensiveStuff() call will not happen in official release builds. No need
// to use checks for DCHECK_IS_ON() anywhere.
DCHECK(ExpensiveStuff());

std::string ExpensiveDebugMessage() { ... }  // No problem.

// Calls in stream operators are also dead code in official release builds (not
// called with the result discarded). This is fine.
DCHECK(...) << ExpensiveDebugMessage();

This code will probably do expensive things that are not needed in official release builds, which is bad.

// The result of this call is only used in a DCHECK(), but the code here is
// outside of the macro. That means it's likely going to show up in official
// release builds.
int c = ExpensiveStuff();  // Bad. Don't do this.
...
DCHECK_EQ(c, ExpensiveStuff());

Instead, any code outside of a DCHECK() macro, that is only needed when DCHECKs are enabled, should be explicitly eliminated by checking DCHECK_IS_ON() as this code does.

// The result of this call is only used in a DCHECK(), but the code here is
// outside of the macro. We can't rely on the compiler to remove this in
// official release builds, so we should guard it with a check for
// DCHECK_IS_ON().
#if DCHECK_IS_ON()
int c = ExpensiveStuff();  // Great, this will be eliminated.
#endif
...
#if DCHECK_IS_ON()
DCHECK_EQ(c, ExpensiveStuff());  // Must be guarded since `c` won't exist.
#endif

The DCHECK() and friends macros still require the variables and functions they use to be declared at compile time, even though they will not be used at runtime. This is done to avoid "unused variable" and "unused function" warnings when DCHECKs are turned off. This means that you may need to guard the DCHECK() macro if it depends on a variable or function that is also guarded by a check for DCHECK_IS_ON().

Minimizing preprocessor conditionals

Eliminate uses of #if ... when there are reasonable alternatives. Some common cases:

APIs that are conceptually reasonable for all platforms, but only actually do anything on one. Instead of guarding the API and all callers in #ifs, you can define and call the API unconditionally, and guard platform-specific implementation.

Test code that expects different values under different #defines:

  // Works, but verbose, and might be more annoying/prone to bugs during
  // future maintenance.
#if BUILDFLAG(COOL_FEATURE)
  EXPECT_EQ(5, NumChildren());
#else
  EXPECT_EQ(3, NumChildren());
#endif

  // Shorter and less repetitive.
  EXPECT_EQ(BUILDFLAG(COOLFEATURE) ? 5 : 3, NumChildren());

Code guarded by DCHECK_IS_ON() or a similar "should always work in either configuration" #define, which could still compile when the #define is unset. Prefer if constexpr (DCHECK_IS_ON()) or similar, since the compiler will continue to verify the code's syntax in all cases, but it will not be compiled in if the condition is false. Note that this only works inside a function, and only if the code does not refer to symbols whose declarations are #ifdefed away. Don't unconditionally declare debug-only symbols just to use this technique -- only use it when it doesn't require additional tweaks to the surrounding code.

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c++-dos-and-donts.md

c++-dos-and-donts.md

C++ Dos and Don'ts

A Note About Usage

Minimize Code in Headers

Static variables

Explicitly declare class copyability/movability

Variable initialization

Initialize members in the declaration where possible

Use `std::make_unique` and `base::MakeRefCounted` instead of bare `new`

Do not use `auto` to deduce a raw pointer

Use `const` correctly

Prefer to use `=default`

Comment style

Named namespaces

Guarding with DCHECK_IS_ON()

Minimizing preprocessor conditionals

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C++ Dos and Don'ts

A Note About Usage

Minimize Code in Headers

Static variables

Explicitly declare class copyability/movability

Variable initialization

Initialize members in the declaration where possible

Use std::make_unique and base::MakeRefCounted instead of bare new

Do not use auto to deduce a raw pointer

Use const correctly

Prefer to use =default

Comment style

Named namespaces

Guarding with DCHECK_IS_ON()

Minimizing preprocessor conditionals

Use `std::make_unique` and `base::MakeRefCounted` instead of bare `new`

Do not use `auto` to deduce a raw pointer

Use `const` correctly

Prefer to use `=default`