What are C plus plus intrinsic functions?

Answer 1

Most functions are available from libraries, however some functions are built-in to the compiler itself. A built-in function is therefore an intrinsic function.

Some intrinsics are only available as built-in functions while others also have standard function equivalents. You can choose to use some or all intrinsics either by using the #pragma compiler directive or via a compiler optimisation switch, such as /Oi in MSVC++, or indeed both.

Intrinsic functions are typically inline expanded to eliminate the overhead of a function call, and some will also provide information back to the compiler in order to better optimise the emitted code.

Intrinsics affect the portability of code but are generally more portable than inline assembler. Indeed, some architectures do not support inline assembler, thus intrinsics are nothing if not essential where optimal code is a requirement.

Your compiler's documentation should provide a complete list of the intrinsic functions available for each platform it supports, along with the standard function equivalents.

Answer 2

Heres the basic definition of a function

(arguments)

{

}

Here are a few examples

void fn()

{

cout<<"This is a function);

}

int sum(int a, int b)

{

return (a+b);

}

Answer 3

C++ built-in functions are those functions that are provided for you as part of the language itself, and includes all of the C standard library functions (all of which were inherited from C) and is expanded upon by the C++ standard template library. C++ implementors may provide additional functions that are platform-specific, however these are not considered built-in functions becuase C++ is a cross-platform language. These are best described as 3rd party functions. The functions you yourself write are known as user-defined functions.

Answer 4

A block of code.