casting - Can static_cast throw an exception in C++?

Question

Is it safe to assume that static_cast will never throw an exception?

For an int to Enum cast, an exception is not thrown even if it is invalid. Can I rely on this behavior? This following code works.

enum animal {
  CAT = 1,
  DOG = 2
};

int y = 10;
animal x = static_cast<animal>(y);

Answer 1

For this particular type of cast (integral to enumeration type), an exception might be thrown.

C++ standard 5.2.9 Static cast [expr.static.cast] paragraph 7

A value of integral or enumeration type can be explicitly converted to an enumeration type. The value is unchanged if the original value is within the range of the enumeration values (7.2). Otherwise, the resulting enumeration value is unspecified / undefined (since C++17).

Note that since C++17 such conversion might in fact result in undefined behavior, which may include throwing an exception.

In other words, your particular usage of static_cast to get an enumerated value from an integer is fine until C++17 and always fine, if you make sure that the integer actually represents a valid enumerated value via some kind of input validation procedure.

Sometimes the input validation procedure completely eliminates the need for a static_cast, like so:

animal GetAnimal(int y)
{
    switch(y)
    {
    case 1:
        return CAT;
    case 2:
        return DOG;
    default:
        // Do something about the invalid parameter, like throw an exception,
        // write to a log file, or assert() it.
    }
}

Do consider using something like the above structure, for it requires no casts and gives you the opportunity to handle boundary cases correctly.