I recently saw this code being used in a source file in a C++ project:
using namespace std;
#include <iostream>
Ignoring all issues of whether it's a good idea to have using namespace std
at all, is the above code even legal? There is no code in the file before these two lines.
I would have thought that this wouldn't compile, since namespace std
hasn't been declared in scope until the #include <iostream>
directive includes it into the file, but using the build system for the project this was compiling just fine. If someone has a link to a relevant part of the spec, that would be most appreciated.
A perhaps interesting data point. When I compile the following:
using namespace std;
using namespace no_such_namespace;
with g++ 4.5.2, I get:
c.cpp:2:17: error: ‘no_such_namespace’ is not a namespace-name
c.cpp:2:34: error: expected namespace-name before ‘;’ token
To be clear, those two lines are the entire source file I compiled.
Neither std
nor no_such_namespace
has been defined as a namespace at that point, but g++ complains only about the second. I don't think there's anything special about the identifier std
in the absence of a declaration of it. I think @James Kanze is right that this is a bug in g++.
EDIT: And it's been reported. (5 years ago!)
UPDATE: Now it's more than 8 years, and still hasn't been assigned to anyone, much less fixed. g++ 4.9.2 exhibits the problem. clang++ 3.5 doesn't, but it issues a warning for std
and a fatal error for no_such_namespace
:
c.cpp:1:17: warning: using directive refers to implicitly-defined namespace 'std'
using namespace std;
^
c.cpp:2:17: error: expected namespace name
using namespace no_such_namespace;
^
1 warning and 1 error generated.
UPDATE: As of 2021-09-24, the bug report is still open and the bug exists in g++ 11.2.0. A comment posted 2021-07-24 suggests that g++ should warn about this.
I don't think it's legal, but the standard isn't 100% clear about it. Basically, name lookup (as defined in §3.4) can't find a previous declaration of the namespace, because there isn't one. Everything hinges on whether:
using namespace std;
is a declaration of the namespace or not. And I don't see any text in §7.3.4 which says that a using-directive declares the nominated namespace. G++ allows your code, but IMHO, this is a bug.
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With