---
title: C++
sidebar_position: 5
id: cpp
license: |
  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at

     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  limitations under the License.
---

## Output Layout

C++ output is one header per schema file, for example:

- `<cpp_out>/addressbook.h`

## Type Generation

Messages generate `final` classes with typed accessors and byte helpers:

```cpp
class Person final {
 public:
  class PhoneNumber final {
   public:
    const std::string& number() const;
    std::string* mutable_number();
    template <class Arg, class... Args>
    void set_number(Arg&& arg, Args&&... args);

    fory::Result<std::vector<uint8_t>, fory::Error> to_bytes() const;
    static fory::Result<PhoneNumber, fory::Error> from_bytes(
        const uint8_t* data, std::size_t size);
    static fory::Result<PhoneNumber, fory::Error> from_bytes(const std::vector<uint8_t>& data);
  };

  const std::string& name() const;
  std::string* mutable_name();
  template <class Arg, class... Args>
  void set_name(Arg&& arg, Args&&... args);

  const Animal& pet() const;
  Animal* mutable_pet();
};
```

Optional message fields generate `has_xxx`, `mutable_xxx`, and `clear_xxx` APIs:

```cpp
class Envelope final {
 public:
  bool has_payload() const { return payload_ != nullptr; }
  const Envelope::Payload& payload() const { return *payload_; }
  Envelope::Payload* mutable_payload() {
    if (!payload_) {
      payload_ = std::make_unique<Envelope::Payload>();
    }
    return payload_.get();
  }
  void clear_payload() { payload_.reset(); }

 private:
  std::unique_ptr<Envelope::Payload> payload_;
};
```

Unions generate `std::variant` wrappers:

```cpp
class Animal final {
 public:
  enum class AnimalCase : uint32_t {
    DOG = 1,
    CAT = 2,
  };

  static Animal dog(Dog v);
  static Animal cat(Cat v);

  AnimalCase animal_case() const noexcept;
  uint32_t animal_case_id() const noexcept;

  bool is_dog() const noexcept;
  const Dog* as_dog() const noexcept;
  Dog* as_dog() noexcept;
  const Dog& dog() const;
  Dog& dog();

  template <class Visitor>
  decltype(auto) visit(Visitor&& vis) const;

 private:
  std::variant<Dog, Cat> value_;
};
```

Generated headers include `FORY_UNION`, `FORY_ENUM`, and `FORY_STRUCT` macros
for serialization metadata. Field and payload configuration is embedded in the
generated `FORY_STRUCT`/`FORY_UNION` entries.

## Registration

Generated registration function:

```cpp
inline void register_types(fory::serialization::BaseFory& fory) {
    fory.register_union<Animal>(106);
    fory.register_enum<Person::PhoneType>(101);
    fory.register_struct<Person::PhoneNumber>(102);
    fory.register_struct<Person>(100);
    fory.register_struct<Dog>(104);
    fory.register_struct<Cat>(105);
    fory.register_struct<AddressBook>(103);
}
```

For schemas without explicit `[id=...]`, generated registration uses computed numeric IDs:

```cpp
fory.register_enum<Status>(1124725126);
fory.register_union<Wrapper>(1471345060);
fory.register_struct<Envelope>(3022445236);
fory.register_union<Envelope::Detail>(1609214087);
fory.register_struct<Envelope::Payload>(2862577837);
```

If `option enable_auto_type_id = false;` is set:

```cpp
fory.register_struct<Config>("myapp.models.Config");
fory.register_union<Holder>("myapp.models.Holder");
```

## Usage

```cpp
addressbook::Person person;
person.set_name("Alice");
*person.mutable_pet() = addressbook::Animal::dog(addressbook::Dog{});

auto bytes = person.to_bytes();
auto restored = addressbook::Person::from_bytes(bytes.value());
```

## gRPC Service Companions

With `--grpc`, C++ emits `<stem>.service.h`, `<stem>.service.grpc.h`, and `<stem>.service.grpc.cc`. The API header contains synchronous interfaces and route constants under `::<namespace>::service`; the binding header contains generated `grpc::SerializationTraits` plus client and server wrappers under `::<namespace>::service::grpc`. See [C++ gRPC](../../grpc/cpp.md) for build and usage guidance.