On Compiler Error Messages: What They Say and What They Mean

Table 3

Error messages of four different C++ compilers for Errors 1–4.

Compiler	Message for Error 1
g++	ANSI C++ forbids declaration ‘ostream’ with no type
	‘ostream’ is neither function nor method; cannot be declared friend
	parse error before ‘&’
MinGW	ISO C++ forbids declaration of ‘ostream’ with no type
	‘ostream’ is neither function nor member function; cannot be declared friend
	expected ‘;’ before ‘&’ token
MVC++	error C2143: syntax error: missing ‘;’ before ‘&’
	error C2433: ‘ostream’: ‘friend’ not permitted on data declarations
	error C2501: ‘ostream’: missing storage-class or type specifiers
	(plus 4 more lines)
BC++	E2061 Friends must be functions or classes
	E2139 Declaration missing;
	E2321 Declaration does not specify a tag or an identifier
Compiler	Message for Error 2
g++	can’t initialize friend function ‘<<’
	friend declaration not in class definition
MinGW	can’t initialize friend function ‘operator<<’
	friend declaration not in class definition
MVC++	error C2255: ‘<<’: a friend function can only be declared in a class
BC++	E2092 Storage class ‘friend’ is not allowed here
Compiler	Message for Error 3
g++	In method ‘float SavingAccount::getInterestRate()’:
	parse error before ‘{’
MinGW	In member function ‘float SavingAccount::getInterestRate()’:
	expected ‘;’ before ‘{’ token
MVC++	error C2143: syntax error: missing ‘;’ before ‘{’
BC++	W8066 Unreachable code
	E2379 Statement missing;
	(plus 2 more lines)
Compiler	Message for Error 4
g++	In method ‘float SavingAccount::getInterestRate()’:
	parse error before ‘,’
MinGW	In member function ‘float SavingAccount::getInterestRate()’:
	expected primary-expression before ‘(’ token
	(plus 2 more lines)
MVC++	error C2275: ‘string’: illegal use of this type as an expression
	c:⧵program files⧵[…]⧵include⧵xstring(612): see declaration of ‘string’
	error C2146: syntax error: missing ‘)’ before identifier ‘owner_’
	error C2059: syntax error: ‘)’
BC++	W8066 Unreachable code
	E2108 Improper use of typedef ‘string’
	(plus 4 more lines)