How do I use C++ modules in Clang?

Question

Modules are an alternative to #includes. Clang has a complete implementation for C++. How would I go about if I wanted to use modules using Clang now?

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Using

Answer 1

As of this commit, Clang has experimental support for the Modules TS.

Let's take the same example files (with a small change) as in the VS blog post about experimental module support.

First, define the module interface file. By default, Clang recognizes files with cppm extension (and some others) as C++ module interface files.

// file: foo.cppm
export module M;

export int f(int x)
{
    return 2 + x;
}
export double g(double y, int z)
{
    return y * z;
} 

Note that the module interface declaration needs to be export module M; and not just module M; like in the VS blog post.

Then consume the module as follows:

// file: bar.cpp
import M;

int main()
{
    f(5);
    g(0.0, 1);
    return 0;
}

Now, precompile the module foo.cppm with

clang++ -fmodules-ts --precompile foo.cppm -o M.pcm

or, if the module interface extension is other than cppm (let's say ixx, as it is with VS), you can use:

clang++ -fmodules-ts --precompile -x c++-module foo.ixx -o M.pcm

Then build the program with

clang++ -fmodules-ts -c M.pcm -o M.o
clang++ -fmodules-ts -fprebuilt-module-path=. M.o bar.cpp

or, if the pcm file name is not the same as the module name, you'd have to use:

clang++ -fmodules-ts -fmodule-file=M.pcm bar.cpp

I've tested these commands on Windows using the r303050 build (15th May 2017).

Note: When using the -fprebuilt-module-path=. option, I get a warning:

clang++.exe: warning: argument unused during compilation: '-fprebuilt-module-path=.' [-Wunused-command-line-argument]

which appears to be incorrect because without that option, the module M is not found.