Backwards Compatibility

Now that there is a definitive ISO standard C++, G++ has a specification to adhere to. The C++ language evolved over time, and features that used to be acceptable in previous drafts of the standard, such as the ARM [Annotated C++ Reference Manual], are no longer accepted. In order to allow compilation of C++ written to such drafts, G++ contains some backwards compatibilities. All such backwards compatibility features are liable to disappear in future versions of G++. They should be considered deprecated. See Deprecated Features.

Implicit C language

Old C system header files did not contain an extern "C" {...} scope to set the language. On such systems, all system header files are implicitly scoped inside a C language scope. Such headers must correctly prototype function argument types, there is no leeway for () to indicate an unspecified set of arguments.