C/C++ Embedded Files (2013)

You can also do it using ld - it's something like ld -r --format binary -o out.o , although you do want some build system assistance to generate header files allowing you to access the thing (somewhat similar to the assembly example here). It's a bit of a performance but I strongly prefer it to generating header files in the earlier options - those header files can end up being _very_ large (they generally multiply up the size of the embedded file by 2-4x) and slow to compile.

All a bit less relevant now since recent C++ versions have this built in by default. Generally something languages have been IMO too slow on (e.g. Go picked this up four or so years ago, after a bunch of less nice home-grown alternatives), it's actually just really useful to make things work in the real world, especially for languages that you can distribute as single-file binaries (which IMO should be all of them, but sadly it's not always).

Re: C/C++ Embedded Files (2013)

#7

Post by rolandhvar » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 5:38 PM UTC

gavinray wrote: post #2

Outdated, modern solution is baked in now https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/preprocessor/embed

The thing that always irks me about c++ is this sort of thing:

> Explanation 1) Searches for the resource identified by h-char-sequence in implementation-defined manner.

Okay, so now I have to make assumptions that the implementation is reasonable, and won't go and "search" by asking an LLM or accidentally revealing my credit card details to a third party, right?

And even if the implementation _is_ reasonable the only way I know what "search" means in this context is by looking at an example, and the example says "it's basically a filename".

So now I think to myself: if I want to remain portable, I'll just write a python script to do a damn substitution to embed my file, which is guaranteed to work under _any_ implementation and I don't have to worry about it as soon as I have my source file.

Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me?

Re: C/C++ Embedded Files (2013)

#8

Post by MoltenMan » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 5:46 PM UTC

rolandhvar wrote: post #7

gavinray wrote: post #2

Outdated, modern solution is baked in now https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/preprocessor/embed

The thing that always irks me about c++ is this sort of thing: > Explanation 1) Searches for the resource identified by h-char-sequence in implementation-defined manner. Okay, so now I have to make assumptions that the implementation is reasonable, and won't go and "search" by asking an LLM or accidentally revealing my credit card details to a third party, right? And even if the implementation _is_ reasonable the onl…

...what? What are you talking about? In what world would a compiler implement a preprocessor directive to ever use an llm, the internet, or your credit card details (from where would it get those)??? There are always implementation defined things in every language, for example, ub behavior. Do you get worried that someone will steal your bitcoin every time you use after free? Of course not! Even in Python when you OOM -- at least in CPython -- you crash with undefined behavior.

Re: C/C++ Embedded Files (2013)

#9

Post by MoltenMan » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 5:47 PM UTC

MoltenMan wrote: post #8

rolandhvar wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing that always irks me about c++ is this sort of thing: > Explanation 1) Searches for the resource identified by h-char-sequence in implementation-defined manner. Okay, so now I have to make assumptions that the implementation is reasonable, and won't go and "search" by asking an LLM or accidentally revealing my credit card details to a third party, right? And even if the implementation _is_ reasonable the onl…

...what? What are you talking about? In what world would a compiler implement a preprocessor directive to ever use an llm, the internet, or your credit card details (from where would it get those)??? There are always implementation defined things in every language, for example, ub behavior. Do you get worried that someone will steal your bitcoin every time you use after free? Of course not! Even in Python when you OO…

Sorry for being so aggressive. I suppose I'm just very confused at where you're coming from.

Re: C/C++ Embedded Files (2013)

#10

Post by CamouflagedKiwi » Fri, Dec 26, 2025, 5:53 PM UTC

rolandhvar wrote: post #7

gavinray wrote: post #2

Outdated, modern solution is baked in now https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/preprocessor/embed

The thing that always irks me about c++ is this sort of thing: > Explanation 1) Searches for the resource identified by h-char-sequence in implementation-defined manner. Okay, so now I have to make assumptions that the implementation is reasonable, and won't go and "search" by asking an LLM or accidentally revealing my credit card details to a third party, right? And even if the implementation _is_ reasonable the onl…

This doesn't sound like the kind of portability anyone is really worried about. I get that the docs on the linked site are written in standards-ese and are complicated by macro replacement, but I don't think the outcome of sending your credit card details away is gonna be an outcome. If it was, an uncharitable implementation with access to your card details would be free to do that any time you gave it input invoking undefined behaviour (which is of course not uncommon, especially in incorrect code).