[FFmpeg-devel] Re: [RFC] C++

[Niklas Haas via ffmpeg-devel <ffmpeg-devel@ffmpeg.org>]

On Mon, 20 Oct 2025 19:50:33 +0200 Tomas Härdin via ffmpeg-devel <ffmpeg-devel@ffmpeg.org> wrote:
> Hi
>
> I'm writing this email to get a feel for how everyone feels about
> making more use of C++ in the codebase. I am only proposing using C++
> *internally*, and only where it makes sense. I am not suggesting a
> "move" to C++, merely using features already present in the compilers
> we target: gcc, clang and cl. The impedance mismatch should therefore
> be small, and any missing compiler features should be caught by FATE.
>
> Currently C++ use is quite limited in this project, but I see no reason
> why this should be the case. doc/faq.texi makes mention of Linux'
> reasons for avoiding C++, but FFmpeg is not Linux. For us ABI stability
> and performance are the biggest issues. Stability can be ensured by
> sticking with C for the API and disabling exceptions (or marking
> relevant functions as noexcept). Performance may benefit in some cases.
> This would have to be tested. Again, the most performance critical
> parts can be kept as C (and asm).

I personally have always felt like debugging C++ in gdb is a bit of a
sub-par experience compared to C; but maybe things have gotten better
these days?
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