Provides the member constant value equal to the alignment requirement of the type T, as if obtained by an alignof expression. If T is an array type, returns the alignment requirements of the element type. If T is a reference type, returns the alignment requirements of the type referred to.

If alignof(T) is not a valid expression, the behavior is undefined.

If the program adds specializations for std::alignment_of or std::alignment_of_v(since C++17), the behavior is undefined.

Helper variable template

Possible implementation

template<class T>
struct alignment_of : std::integral_constant<std::size_t, alignof(T)> {};

Notes

This type trait predates the alignof keyword, which can be used to obtain the same value with less verbosity.

Example

#include <cstdint>
#include <iostream>
#include <type_traits>

struct A {};
struct B
{
    std::int8_t p;
    std::int16_t q;
};

int main()
{
    std::cout << std::alignment_of<A>::value << ' ';
    std::cout << std::alignment_of<B>::value << ' ';
    std::cout << std::alignment_of<int>() << ' '; // alt syntax
    std::cout << std::alignment_of_v<double> << '\n'; // c++17 alt syntax
}

See also