A shared library is a collection of classes and functions dynamically loaded by an application at run time. The MATLAB® interface to a C++ shared library supports libraries containing functionality defined in C++ header and source files. You should be able to compile the headers in a C++ development environment and use the functionality in C++ applications.
To publish a MATLAB interface to a C++ library, identify specific functionality you want to include in the interface and the associated header files containing that functionality.
You can use library example code as a starting point to create an
.hpp header file. Example code contains the relevant header files in
#include statements. Copy the .cpp code into a text
editor. Remove the main function and its implementation. Save the file
with the .hpp file extension. The name of this file is the
CppFiles argument for the clibgen.buildInterface or clibgen.generateLibraryDefinition functions.
MATLAB supports dynamic libraries on these platforms:
| Platform | Shared Library | File Extension |
|---|---|---|
Microsoft® Windows® | Dynamic-link library file | .dll |
Import library file | .lib | |
Linux® | Shared object file | .so |
Apple macOS | Dynamic shared library file | .dylib |
To build a MATLAB interface for a C++ library, you need an installed, MATLAB-supported C++ compiler. For an up-to-date list of supported compilers, see Supported and Compatible Compilers.
You must build the interface library using the same compiler that was used to build the C++ library. If your library is header-only (does not use a shared library file), then you can choose any supported C++ compiler to build the interface library.
Note
Not every C++ compiler supports every C++ feature.