[C API] Py_ARRAY_LENGTH() macro is incompatible with g++ -std=gnu++11

Bug report

Example:

#include <Python.h>

int main()
{
    int array[] = {1, 2, 3};
    return Py_ARRAY_LENGTH(array);
}

Building this example with g++ -std=gnu++11 example.cpp or just g++ example.cpp fails with:

In file included from Include/Python.h:70,
                 from x.cpp:1:
x.cpp: In function ‘int main()’:
Include/pymacro.h:217:30: error: ‘__builtin_types_compatible_p’ was not declared in this scope
  217 |      + Py_BUILD_ASSERT_EXPR(!__builtin_types_compatible_p(typeof(array), \
      |                              ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The example builds correctly if I use -std=c++11 (g++ -std=c++11 example.cpp).

The macro is currently defined as:

#define Py_ARRAY_LENGTH(array) \
    (sizeof(array) / sizeof((array)[0]) \
     + Py_BUILD_ASSERT_EXPR(!__builtin_types_compatible_p(typeof(array), \
                                                          typeof(&(array)[0]))))
#else
#define Py_ARRAY_LENGTH(array) \
    (sizeof(array) / sizeof((array)[0]))
#endif

I'm not sure why __builtin_types_compatible_p() is available with -std=c++11, but not with -std=gnu++11.

I made my tests using g++ (GCC) 16.2.1 on Fedora 44.

CPython versions tested on:

CPython main branch

Operating systems tested on:

Linux

Linked PRs

The documentation for __builtin_types_compatible_p says

Note: This construct is only available for C.

Which leaves a mystery about why it seems to work in -std=c++11 but which does imply you shouldn't be using it in c++

pythongh-158810: Fix Py_ARRAY_LENGTH() macro on C++

@da-woods

@da-woods: It would be nice to be able to use __builtin_types_compatible_p() on C++ when it's supported. The problem is that I don't know how to check if the built-in function is available or not.

(...) which does imply you shouldn't be using it in c++

Well well well, a simple fix is to do exactly that: don't use __builtin_types_compatible_p() on C++. I implemented this approach in PR gh-158812.

Other places in the code base use _Py__has_builtin, but I don't think this buys us much here, since we know __builtin_types_compatible_p isn't supported in C++. Yet, it'll reduce the detection to #if _Py__has_builtin(__builtin_types_compatible_p).

The most natural fit in modern C++ beginning with C++17 is std::size, and AI will for sure spit out something for earlier versions, but that's all template based, and you've mentioned in #157649 (comment) that templates did not play out nicely for Py_CLEAR et al.

gh-158810: Fix Py_ARRAY_LENGTH() macro on C++ (#158812)

@da-woods

The example builds correctly if I use -std=c++11 (g++ -std=c++11 example.cpp).

When using -std=c++11, the __STRICT_ANSI__ macro is defined. In this case, Py_ARRAY_LENGTH() doesn't use built-in functions (it doesn't use __builtin_types_compatible_p() or typeof()).

Other places in the code base use _Py__has_builtin, but I don't think this buys us much here, since we know __builtin_types_compatible_p isn't supported in C++. Yet, it'll reduce the detection to #if _Py__has_builtin(__builtin_types_compatible_p).

__has_builtin(typeof) and __has_builtin(__builtin_types_compatible_p) are false using -std=c++11 and -std=gnu++11. So it cannot be used in C++ for Py_ARRAY_LENGTH().

The most natural fit in modern C++ beginning with C++17 is std::size, and AI will for sure spit out something for earlier versions, but that's all template based, and you've mentioned in #157649 (comment) that templates did not play out nicely for Py_CLEAR et al.

I'm sure that it's possible to write something nice using templates, but I would prefer to keep the Python C API simple, and avoid C++ templates in general.

#define Py_ARRAY_LENGTH(array) (sizeof(array) / sizeof((array)[0])) works just fine on C++.

It's just that it doesn't detect API misuse on C++. It would be nice to have, but it's ok to not detect API misuse in this case.

I just merged my PR to just use #define Py_ARRAY_LENGTH(array) (sizeof(array) / sizeof((array)[0])) in C++.

Thanks for your feedback @da-woods and @chris-eibl.

gh-158810: Use _Py_TYPEOF in Py_ARRAY_LENGTH() (#158838)

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[C API] Py_ARRAY_LENGTH() macro is incompatible with g++ -std=gnu++11 #158810

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[C API] Py_ARRAY_LENGTH() macro is incompatible with g++ -std=gnu++11 #158810

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Bug report

CPython versions tested on:

Operating systems tested on:

Linked PRs

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da-woods commented on Oct 4, 2026

vstinner commented on Oct 4, 2026

chris-eibl commented on Oct 5, 2026

vstinner commented on Oct 5, 2026

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