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<h1>"libc++abi" C++ Standard Library Support</h1>
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<p>libc++abi is a new implementation of low level support for a standard
C++ library.</p>
<p>All of the code in libc++abi is <a
href="http://llvm.org/docs/DeveloperPolicy.html#license">dual licensed</a>
under the MIT license and the UIUC License (a BSD-like license).</p>
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<h2 id="goals">Features and Goals</h2>
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<ul>
<li>Correctness as defined by the C++11 standard.</li>
<li>Provide a portable sublayer to ease the porting of <a href="http://libcxx.llvm.org/">libc++</a></li>
<li>On Mac OS X, be ABI compatible with the existing low-level support.</li>
</ul>
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<h2 id="requirements">Platform Support</h2>
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<p>libc++abi is known to work on the following platforms, using clang.</p>
<ul>
<li>Darwin</li>
</ul>
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<h2 id="dir-structure">Current Status</h2>
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<p>libc++abi is complete. <a href="spec.html">Here</a> is a
list of functionality.</p>
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<h2>Get it and get involved!</h2>
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<p>To check out the code, use:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxxabi/trunk libcxxabi</code></li>
</ul>
<p>Send discussions to the
(<a href="http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/cfe-dev">clang mailing list</a>).</p>
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<h2>Frequently asked questions</h2>
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<p>Q: Why are the destructors for the standard exception classes defined in libc++abi?
They're just empty, can't they be defined inline?</p>
<p>A: The destructors for them live in libc++abi because they are "key" functions.
The Itanium ABI describes a "key" function as the first virtual declared.
And wherever the key function is defined, that is where the <code>type_info</code> gets defined.
And in libc++ types are the same type if and only if they have the same <code>type_info</code>
(as in there must be only one type info per type in the entire application).
And on OS X, libstdc++ and libc++ share these exception types.
So to be able to throw in one dylib and catch in another (a <code>std::exception</code> for example),
there must be only one <code>std::exception type_info</code> in the entire app.
That typeinfo gets laid down beside <code>~exception()</code> in libc++abi (for both libstdc++ and libc++).</p>
<p>--Howard Hinnant</p>
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