Build without C++ exception

[16bit-ykiko]

Hi, cpptrace currently requires exception handling, but some projects add -fno-exceptions globally, which breaks the build. Could you add a CMake option (or preprocessor macro) to build cpptrace with exceptions disabled (no try/catch/throw), and fall back to std::terminate() instead or only build files without these syntax?

[16bit-ykiko]

@jeremy-rifkin Hi, sorry to bother you. If you're okay with this, I'd be happy to open a PR to resolve it.

[jeremy-rifkin]

Hi,
In principle I'm happy supporting a no-exceptions build of the library. The biggest obstacle is that exceptions are currently needed internally in the library and as such a no exceptions build may lack functionality. It would be a fair amount of work to get rid of all uses of try/catch in the library. There is a Result<T, E> utility used internally for some error handling but not all.

I would highly recommend not adding -fno-exceptions globally. Additionally, it's best to use a package manager rather than including cpptrace in a way that cmake flags affect cpptrace's compilation.

[16bit-ykiko]

I agree that using a package manager is generally best practice to avoid global flag pollution. However, linking binaries with mixed exception models can still introduce ABI risks and undefined behavior. My specific use case involves developing software based on LLVM, which is strictly built with -fno-exceptions, so having native support in cpptrace would be extremely helpful.

Regarding the complexity, I took a quick look at the source code, and it seems many of the throws are for internal errors. A common pattern in libraries supporting both modes is to abstract the keywords behind macros (e.g., CPPTRACE_TRY, CPPTRACE_CATCH, CPPTRACE_THROW).

• With exceptions: They map to standard try/catch/throw.
• Without exceptions: They can map to if(true), else, and std::terminate() (or a logging hook).

This way, we only need to refactor actual recoverable errors to use Result<T, E>, while internal invariants can simply terminate in no-exception builds. I don't think the workload would be overwhelming.

If you are open to this approach, I would be happy to submit an MVP PR soon to demonstrate how this could work.

[16bit-ykiko]

By the way, I noticed the project doesn't currently use clang-format, and the formatting seems a bit inconsistent in some places. Would you be interested in adding a .clang-format file? I can provide a configuration that closely matches the project's current style to minimize changes.