22.14 Name-mangling

When a compiler processes C++ code it changes the names of functions to include information about the types of the function's arguments. This process, normally invisible, is called 'name-mangling'.

You most often notice the effects of name-mangling when you put a prototype of a class method in a header file, but then fail to implement the method in any of your project's *.cpp files. The project will compile all right, but at the very end, you will get a linker message. Thus, if you were to leave out the code for the cCritter method int cCritter::move(Real dt), you would get a linker error like the following.

popview.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol "public: int 
    __thiscall cCritter::move(float)" (?move@cCritter@@QAEHM@Z)

The string at the end at the end of the line is the name-mangled name of the method.

Remember how we talked about how having a const after the name of a function changes how C++ thinks of it? That's because the const goes into the name-mangled name.

Name-mangling can become an issue in advanced programming situations, for instance if (a) you want to link someone else's *.c module with your *.cpp modules, or (b) you want to locate a function by name inside a dynamic link library module. This is because although you may think the function's name is what you called it, say 'int MyFunction(),' C++ will actually have assigned a different 'mangled' name for your function. You can turn off the name-mangling for a function name by specifically asking in its prototype that it be treated like a C function, using a line like the following.