Improvements to Std:Format in C++26

2026-06-21 | original

read original more articles

Why This Matters

The C++26 standard introduces significant enhancements to the std::format library, simplifying common tasks such as printing empty lines, formatting pointers, and handling filesystem paths. These improvements streamline coding practices, reduce workarounds, and enhance code readability and maintainability for developers and consumers alike.

Key Takeaways

std::println() can now print empty lines without parameters.
Direct support for formatting pointers with various options simplifies pointer representation.
Enhanced formatting for std::filesystem::path makes path handling more straightforward.

The C++26 standard features a series of improvements to the format library. In this article, we will look at the most important of them.

Printing an empty line

Prior to C++26, printing an empty line had to be done like this:

std::print("

");

In C++26, std::println has an overload without any parameters that prints a new line to the console.

std::print();

Formatting pointers

Formatting pointer types was not available directly, it required a hack: reinterpreting the pointer type as an integer type in order to print it.

int i = 0; const void* p = &i; std::println("{:#018x}", reinterpret_cast<uintptr_t>(p));

... continue reading

Explore topics: cpp c++ format library pointers