Magic commands

Magics are special commands for the kernel that are not part of the C++ programming language.

There are defined with the symbol % for a line magic and %% for a cell magic.

A few magics are available in xeus-cling. In the future, user-defined magics will also be enabled.

%%executable

Dump the code from all entered cells into an executable binary. The content of the cell is used for the body of the main function.

%%executable filename [-- linker options]

  • Example

_images/executable.png

  • Optional arguments:

You can use the following options which will be passed to the linker and will influence code generation:

-fsanitize

enable instrumentation with ThreadSanitizer

-g

enable debug information in the executable

%%file

This magic command copies the content of the cell in a file named filename.

%%file [-a] filename

  • Example

_images/file_magic.png

  • Optional argument:

-a

append the content to the file.

%timeit

Measure the execution time execution for a line statement (%timeit) or for a block of statements (%%timeit)

  • Usage in line mode

%timeit [-n<N> -r<R> -p<P>] statement

  • Usage in cell mode

%%timeit [-n<N> -r<R> -p<P>]
statements

  • Example

_images/timeit_magic.png

  • Optional arguments:

-n

execute the given statement <N> times in a loop. If this value is not given, a fitting value is chosen.

-r

repeat the loop iteration <R> times and take the best result. Default: 7

-p

use a precision of <P> digits to display the timing result. Default: 3