C++ Handbook

Header Reference: <iostream>

Header Reference: <iostream>

Standard stream objects and high-level stream initialization support from <iostream>.

How to use this reference page

Use reference pages to confirm names, categories, nearby facilities, and the constraints that matter before writing or reviewing code.

  • Scan the top of the page first to identify the primary types, functions, or algorithm families involved.
  • Use the nearby-page links when your question is really about a companion header, related algorithm family, or broader subsystem.
  • Validate tricky behavior with a small compileable example before relying on memory for details like invalidation, ordering, allocation, or lifetime rules.

What header pages are for

Header reference pages are meant to answer a practical question quickly: what this header provides, when to reach for it, and which usage rules are easiest to get wrong.

  • Start here when you already know roughly which header you need but want a fast operational summary.
  • Use the example section below as a minimal pattern, then adapt it to your real container, ownership, text, or concurrency workflow.
  • Jump to broader index pages when you need exhaustive coverage rather than a header-focused summary.

Header Reference: <iostream>

Main facilities

What this header is for

Use <iostream> when you need the standard global stream objects for console-style input, output, logging, and diagnostics.

Common patterns

Minimal example

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    // Pair stream types with state checks and explicit formatting rules.
    return 0;
}

What to verify before relying on this header

  • Whether the code needs ownership, borrowing, locale awareness, or low-allocation conversion behavior.
  • How errors are reported: stream state, parse result, exception, error code, or boolean match result.
  • Whether encoding, formatting, or lifetime assumptions need to be made explicit in the surrounding API.