C++ : Are NULL and C++ standard library part of the C++ language?

NO, C++ standard library is not a part of the C++ language but provides support.

The question was raised in an Orkut forum, and who better to ask than Bjarne. This is what his reply to my email was:

Zaman Bakshi wrote:
> Dear Mr Stroustrup,
>
> I hope this email finds you in good health. Sir, can we say that the
> standard C and C++ libraries are a part of the C++ 'language'? Or
> should they be considered as a support for the language and not a part
> of it? This point was raised in the C/C++ programmers' community (that
> I am moderating) with reference to NULL. I cited your TC++PL and wrote
> const int NULL = 0; to be the correct implementation of NULL in C++,
> if it has to be defined. We know that 0 should be used instead of
> NULL, but what if NULL has to be defined. A null pointer is defined in
> the 'C++ standard' but NULL is used with reference to the C libraries.
> My answer was that NULL is not a part of the language but part of the
> C standard libraries referred in the C++ standard.

I distinguish between the C++ language and the C++ standard library.
They are both part of the C++ standard, though, and shipped with every
implementation. Some people (slightly incorrect I think, but
understandably) refer to all that is in "The C++ language standard" as
"the C++ language".

>
> So, are NULL and the libraries part of the 'C++ language'?

I would say no. Even though you can use NULL after #including that
appropriate standard library header, you don't have to.

In C++0x, we'll get nullptr as a keyword indicating the null pointer.