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Tracking C++ lib public API changes

Asked 2011-07-06T12:29:11.640
20

I'm currently working on large C++ Qt based project which is a about to go under a major re-factor of its public API and it would be nice to have a tool that can generate a report on which methods have been added or removed from build to build.

I know there is a tool for Java to do this and I think there might be one for .NET but I couldn't, after a bit of searching, find anything for C++.

Does one exist. Cross platform would be nice, or if only in Linux that would be fine too.

c++ qt
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If you use Doxygen or some similar tool to document your API then you can diff the table-of-contents.

  • This is something you should be doing anyway.
    • (You can also tell Doxygen to find undocumented functions.)
  • You can apply it easily to ancient checkins without changing anything.
  • The Doxygen and its ilk know enough about the language to be sensitive to private and public.
  • This solution can be applied to many languages and is not dependent on a particular IDE.
  • No third-party software is required (given that you already have a documentation generator).
answered 2011-07-11T15:28:46.143

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