Home/ Questions/Q 178785
In Process

The Archive Base Latest Questions

Editorial Team
  • 0
Asked: 2026-05-11T14:17:30+00:00

I am planning to write a code library to access some hardware at a

  • 0

I am planning to write a code library to access some hardware at a low-level (i.e. flipping register bits and such).

Previously, I wrote everything as C functions and used extern ‘C’ to make the library compile for both C and C++ code. So, both C and C++ users merely had to include the header file and call the functions as they were.

Now, I am thinking of organising things as classes. For example, I can put all the functions to initialise, configure, transmit and receive a UART in a class. This works fine in C++ but how about C? I can’t extern ‘C’ an entire class.

One thing that I was thinking of: write everything in standard C functions escaped with extern ‘C’. Then, provide a wrapper class for C++, that has a bunch of inline methods that call these ‘C’ functions.

int foo_bar (int *address, int data) {...} // extern C stuff int foo::bar (int *address, int data) { return foo_bar(address, data); } // inline method

Is that okay? Any other ideas? Best practices?

Share

Leave an answer

You must login to add an answer.

Need An Account,

1 Answer

  1. There is some precedent for what you’re proposing – Microsoft’s MFC classes are just C++ wrappers around the C-compatible Windows API.

    Before you start though, you should have some goal in mind beyond just creating busywork for yourself. The C++ should be easier to work with than the C, or you’re not gaining anything.

    • 0