12.4.2 The complex Library

The standard library provides a templatized complex library that is similar to the complex library provided with the C++ 4.2 compiler. If you compile in standard mode, you must use <complex> instead of <complex.h>. You cannot use <complex> in compatibility mode.

In compatibility mode, you must explicitly ask for the complex library when linking. In standard mode, the complex library is included in libCstd, and is linked by default.

There is no complex.h header for standard mode. In C++ 4.2, “complex” is the name of a class, but in standard C++, “complex” is the name of a template. It is not possible to provide typedefs that allow old code to work unchanged. Therefore, code written for 4.2 that uses complex numbers will need some straightforward editing to work with the standard library. For example, the following code was written for 4.2 and will compile in compatibility mode.

// file ex1.cc (compatibility mode)
#include <iostream.h>
#include <complex.h>

int main()
{
    complex x(3,3), y(4,4);
    complex z = x * y;
    cout << "x=" << x << ", y=" << y << ", z=" << z << endl;
}

The following example compiles and links ex1.cc in compatibility mode, and then executes the program.

example% CC -compat ex1.cc -library=complex
example% a.out
x=(3, 3), y=(4, 4), z=(0, 24)

Here is ex1.cc rewritten as ex2.cc to compile in standard mode:

// file ex2.cc (ex1.cc rewritten for standard mode)
#include <iostream>
#include <complex>
using std::complex;

int main()
{
     complex<double> x(3,3), y(4,4);
     complex<double> z = x * y;
     std::cout << "x=" << x << ", y=" << y << ", z=" << z <<
       std::endl;
}

The following example compiles and links the rewritten ex2.cc in standard mode, and then executes the program.

% CC ex2.cc
% a.out
x=(3,3), y=(4,4), z=(0,24)

For more information about using the complex arithmetic library, see Table 14–4.