Weekly Quiz number: 41 (2026)

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Coding Quiz: `#embed`

Historically, it was hard to include binary data into C and C++ programs as the #include preprocessor directive requires the contents to be compatible with the C or C++ language. Solutions included converting the data in integer literals or complicated linker invocations.

#embed is a preprocessor directive for placing the contents of a binary resource directly into a C or C++ program. It was standardized in C23 and C++26. Instead of treating a file as source text, it produces integer values that can, for example, initialize an array.

constexpr unsigned char logo[] = {
#embed "logo.png" if_empty(0)
};

constexpr unsigned char random[] = {
#embed "/dev/urandom" limit(1024)
};

Question 1: The Main Benefit

What is the main benefit of #embed over classic #include when putting an image, firmware blob, or other binary resource into a program?

A: Stringification: It automatically converts every binary file to a null-terminated string.
B: Speed: It embeds binary data as integer values, avoiding the source-token and parsing overhead of generated C++ initializers.
C: Delay: It allows a program to read a file lazily from an internal virtual file system at runtime without using file I/O.
D: Magic: It detects the file format by its file extension and handles it appropriately.

Question 2: Eligible Files

What kind of files can be embedded with #embed?

A: Only image formats such as PNG, JPEG, and GIF.
B: Only text files encoded as UTF-8.
C: Any resource the implementation can process as a binary data sequence.
D: Only files that are valid C or C++ source code.

Question 3: Parameters

Which of the following is not a standard #embed parameter?

A: limit(256)
B: prefix(0xEF, 0xBB, 0xBF, )
C: if_empty(0)
D: encoding(UTF-8)

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