hides isnan in in C++14 / C++11?

Question

I have here a small test app which uses isnan from <math.h>:

#include <iostream>
#include <math.h>

int main()
{
    double d = NAN;

    std::cout << isnan(d) << '\n';

    return 0;
}

Build and run under 3 different standards:

$ g++ -std=c++98 main.cpp; ./a.out
1

$ g++ -std=c++11 main.cpp; ./a.out
1

$ g++ -std=c++14 main.cpp; ./a.out
1

Now we also include <cmath>, and test with both isnan and std::isnan:

#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
#include <math.h>

int main()
{
    double d = NAN;

    std::cout << std::isnan(d) << '\n';
    std::cout << isnan(d) << '\n';

    return 0;
}

Build and run:

C++98 works

$ g++ -std=c++98 main.cpp; ./a.out
1
1

C++11 and C++14 don't, isnan is not found.

$ g++ -std=c++11 main.cpp
main.cpp: In function ‘int main()’:
main.cpp:10:25: error: ‘isnan’ was not declared in this scope
     std::cout << isnan(d) << '\n';
                         ^
main.cpp:10:25: note: suggested alternative:
In file included from main.cpp:3:0:
/usr/include/c++/5/cmath:641:5: note:   ‘std::isnan’
     isnan(_Tp __x)
     ^

$ g++ -std=c++14 main.cpp
main.cpp: In function ‘int main()’:
main.cpp:10:25: error: ‘isnan’ was not declared in this scope
     std::cout << isnan(d) << '\n';
                         ^
main.cpp:10:25: note: suggested alternative:
In file included from main.cpp:3:0:
/usr/include/c++/5/cmath:641:5: note:   ‘std::isnan’
     isnan(_Tp __x)
     ^

Note the order of inclusion is not important. If I include <cmath> before <math.h> or after, the result is the same.

Questions

• Why is isnan gone?
• Without having to go back and change old code to compile under the new standard, is there any way to fix this?

Answer 1

Briefly summarizing the pertinent points, mostly from Jonathan Wakely's excellent blog post:

• glibc <2.23's math.h declares the obsolete X/Open int isnan(double); that is incompatible with the C99/C++11 version (bool isnan(double);).
• glibc 2.23's math.h fixes this by not declaring the isnan function in C++11 or later.
• All of them still define an isnan macro. #include <cmath> nukes that macro as required by the C++ standard.
• GCC 6's libstdc++ provides its own special math.h header that declares a bool isnan(double); in the global namespace (unless the libc math.h declares the obsolete signature) and also nukes the macros as required by the standard.
• Before GCC 6, #include <math.h> simply included the header from your libc, so the macro isn't nuked.
• #include <cmath> always nukes the macros.

Net result, in C++11 mode:

glibc <  2.23, GCC <  6: <math.h> uses the macro; <cmath> uses obsolete signature
glibc >= 2.23, GCC <  6: <math.h> uses the macro; <cmath> results in error
glibc <  2.23, GCC >= 6: <math.h> and <cmath> use obsolete signature
glibc >= 2.23, GCC >= 6: <math.h> and <cmath> use standard signature

Answer 2

If you look inside <cmath> from GCC, it has this:

. . .
#include <math.h>
. . .
#undef isnan

That's why the order doesn't matter - whenever you #include <cmath>, <math.h> is auto-included and its contents is (partially) nuked.

Attempting to include it again will have no effect because of #ifndef _MATH_H.

---

Now, what does the standard have to say about this behavior?

[depr.c.headers]:

... every C header, each of which has a name of the form name.h, behaves as if each name placed in the standard library namespace by the corresponding cname header is placed within the global namespace scope. It is unspecified whether these names are first declared or defined within namespace scope ([basic.scope.namespace]) of the namespace std and are then injected into the global namespace scope by explicit using-declarations ([namespace.udecl]).

[ Example: The header <cstdlib> assuredly provides its declarations and definitions within the namespace std. It may also provide these names within the global namespace. The header <stdlib.h> assuredly provides the same declarations and definitions within the global namespace, much as in the C Standard. It may also provide these names within the namespace std. — end example ]

So it's OK that <cmath> does not provide isnan in the global namespace.

But it's a gray area what should happen when both are included in one compilation unit, although one could argue that the statement above implies that both versions must interoperate, in which case it would be a bug in GCC/libstdc++ (some versions).

Answer 3

A lot of the functions inside math.h are actually macros. Since this is not idiomatic c++ the header cmath contains following code:

    ...
    #undef isinf
    #undef isnan
    #undef isnormal
    ...

And implements then all those undefined macros as function in the namespace std. This is at least true for gcc 6.1.1. That's why your compiler can't find isnan.