C++ - Filesystem (Deep Dive)

Overview

Estimated time: 60–80 minutes

Use std::filesystem to manipulate paths, iterate directories, copy files, and handle errors portably.

Learning Objectives

• Compose paths and iterate directories safely.
• Copy/move/remove files and handle errors via error_code.

Prerequisites

• C++ - Files & I/O

Examples

#include 
#include 
int main(){
  namespace fs = std::filesystem;
  fs::path p = fs::path("data") / "log.txt";
  std::cout << p.string() << "\n";
  for (auto& e : fs::directory_iterator(".")) std::cout << e.path() << "\n";
}

Common Pitfalls

• Throwing exceptions on filesystem errors by default; prefer overloads with std::error_code for non-throwing behavior.