Code style settings for C and C++

C/C++ formatting engine

Use these options to select which formatting engine CLion uses when it formats and reformats your C and C++ code.

• CLion formatter — Use this option to format code with the built-in formatter, which you configure on the tabs of this page.

  This option also enables code inspections that detect and highlight violations of formatting rules right in the editor.

  If you have some formatting styles configured in Clang-Format files, you can select Read code style from .clang-format files to apply most of these styles too. Note that settings from .clang-format files override the settings configured on this page if there are any conflicts.

• Clang-Format — Use this option to format code with the bundled clang-format or with an external one that you specify. In this case, the CLion formatting options do not take effect, and formatting inspections are disabled.

Write current style to .clang-format

Click this button to export code styles from CLion settings to a .clang-format file.

Indent style

Select whether CLion indents your code with spaces or with tabs.

Indent size

Specify the number of spaces to be inserted for each indent level.

Tab width

Specify the number of spaces included in a tab.

How to align when tabs are used for indents

Select how CLion aligns code when Indent style is set to tabs. The available options are described below the table.

Align even if the resulting indentation is too large

Select this checkbox to allow alignment even when the construct is located too far to the right, farther than two thirds of the Hard wrap at limit.

Sort include directives

Select this option to highlight any #include directives that violate the sorting order.

Type of slashes to use in include directives

Use this list to select the preferred path separator for include directives: forward slash or backward slash.

Prefer to use forward declarations if possible

If this option is selected, auto-import puts the option to add a forward declaration before the option to insert an include directive.

Use paths relative to the source file

You can use this option to configure when CLion may use relative paths in generated include directives.

Use angle brackets instead of quotes

By default, generated include directives are added in quotes, if necessary, you can use this option to specify cases where generated include directives are added in angle brackets.

Default pointer initializer

You can specify 0, nullptr or NULL as the preferred initializer for pointer initializers, for example: const char *foo = nullptr.

Use uniform initialization in member initializers

By default, CLion uses C++03 style when generating initializers (for example when you generate constructors or apply a quick-fix that inserts initializer into an existing constructor). You can select this checkbox to enable uniform initialization in the above-mentioned cases.

Prefer uniform initialization in non-static data member initializers

This option lets you configure how CLion generates non-static data member initializers (NSDMIs) when applying its features. For example, when you apply a quick-fix Alt+Enter on the uninitialized field in the following code

CLion generates a uniform initialization int field{0}; when the option is enabled, and int field = 0; if the option is disabled.

Sort member initializers by the order of initialization

This option lets you enforce the order of member initializers in constructor initializer lists. Class members are initialized in the order they are declared in their containing class, so to minimize confusion and errors the common practice is to keep member initializers in the same order.

'auto' usage in variable types

Preferences in this section let you configure the usage of auto separately for numeric and non-numeric types. The default for non-numeric types is When type is evident, which means that the auto specifier will only be introduced in the situations where the deduced type is evident from the initializer expression.

Position of cv-qualifiers

Preferences in this section let you configure whether the const keyword should be placed before or after the type it applies to, and which of the const and volatile qualifiers should go first.

Function declaration syntax

Use this option to configure whether to use trailing or regular return types in function declarations.

Prefer typedefs or type aliases

Use this option to specify the preferred way to define type synonyms: in the form of alias templates or type aliases. It also affects which syntax is used by the Introduce Typedef refactoring.

Nested namespaces

Use this option to enforce the C++17 syntax for nested namespaces, which allows you to declare multi-level namespaces in a more concise manner.

Overriding functions

Preferences in this section let you configure which specifiers should be required on overriding functions and destructors.

Braces

Preferences in this section let you define which braces can be omitted around single nested statements under the if statement and different kinds of loop statements. In addition to the straightforward Do not enforce and Enforce always options, you can also opt to require braces only around statements that span several lines, or when the nested statement itself is multi-line. Use Remove redundant braces to configure whether CLion should remove optional braces that do not comply with the chosen preference.

Source Extension

Select the extension for new source files, for example cpp or c.

Header Extension

Select the extension for new header files, for example h or cuh.

File Naming Convention

Select the naming convention that CLion applies to the names of new files. For more information about naming conventions, refer to naming conventions.