References

Use this page as the starting map for reference-oriented material in this section.

Reference categories

• Language and standard library: quick lookup resources for language rules, APIs, and headers.
• Compiler and vendor documentation: MSVC, GCC, Clang, and implementation-oriented documentation.
• Guidelines, standards, and community resources: Core Guidelines, WG21 papers, FAQs, and standards-adjacent material.

Core references

• cppreference: the fastest general-purpose reference for the C++ standard library, language features, and standard headers.
• C++ Core Guidelines: practical design, safety, and maintenance guidance from the ISO C++ community.
• ISO C++ FAQ: concise answers to common language and design questions.

Compiler and vendor docs

• Microsoft C++ documentation: MSVC, standard library notes, Windows-focused workflows, and toolchain docs.
• GCC online docs: compiler options, libstdc++ notes, and GNU toolchain documentation.
• Clang documentation: compiler flags, diagnostics, sanitizers, and LLVM/Clang tooling documentation.

Standards-adjacent resources

• WG21 papers: proposal papers and committee working material.
• isocpp.org: news, standards information, and general C++ community resources.

When to start here

• you need an authoritative answer about a language rule or standard-library facility
• you want implementation-specific details from a compiler vendor
• you are comparing design guidance against standard wording or proposal rationale

Quick reference flow

1. Start with cppreference for fast language and library lookup.
2. Open vendor docs when the question is compiler-specific, platform-specific, or diagnostic-related.
3. Open the Core Guidelines when the question is about design direction or safety tradeoffs.
4. Read WG21 papers when you need proposal rationale, evolution details, or feature background beyond normal day-to-day usage.

Choose the source by question type

• exact signature, header, complexity, invalidation, or feature-test macro: start with cppreference
• warning meaning, flag behavior, ABI note, or implementation detail: go to vendor documentation
• ownership, API clarity, safety, or maintainability decision: go to the Core Guidelines
• feature rationale, proposal tradeoffs, or standard-evolution background: go to WG21 papers

Practical lookup workflow

1. Write down the concrete question before opening references.
2. Check the fastest authoritative source for that question type.
3. Verify the answer in a tiny local example if the result affects lifetime, performance, overload resolution, or concurrency.
4. Return to the handbook when you want the surrounding explanation and tradeoffs, not just the raw rule.

When to leave one source for another

• leave cppreference when the issue becomes toolchain-specific or design-oriented
• leave vendor docs when you need the standard rule instead of one implementation note
• leave guidelines when you need exact library wording or syntax rather than design advice
• leave WG21 papers once you have enough rationale to make the practical engineering decision