Simple C++ Application for YugabyteDB

This application connects to your YugabyteDB instance via the libpqxx driver for PostgreSQL and performs basic SQL operations. The instructions below are provided for YugabyteDB Aeon deployments. If you use a different type of deployment, then update the sample-app.cpp file with proper connection parameters.

Prerequisites

• A 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) architecture machine. Use Rosetta to build and run on Apple silicon.
• gcc 4.1.2 or later, clang 3.4 or later installed.
• OpenSSL 1.1.1 or later (used by libpq and libpqxx to establish secure SSL connections).
• libpq - the official PostgreSQL driver for C (reused by libpqxx).
• libpqxx - the official PostgreSQL driver for C++.
• Command line tool or your favourite IDE, such as Visual Studio Code.

Start YugabyteDB Aeon Cluster

• Start YugabyteDB Aeon instance. You can use the free tier at no cost.
• Add an IP address of your machine/laptop to the IP allow list

Clone Application Repository

Clone the repository and change dirs into it:

git clone https://github.com/YugabyteDB-Samples/yugabyte-simple-cpp-app.git && cd yugabyte-simple-cpp-app

Provide Cluster Connection Parameters

Open the sample-app.cpp file and specify the following configuration parameters:

• HOST - the hostname of your instance.
• USER - the username for your instance.
• PASSWORD - the database password.
• SSL_MODE - the SSL mode to use. YugabyteDB Aeon requires SSL connections; use verify-full.
• SSL_ROOT_CERT - a full path to your CA root cert (for example, /Users/dmagda/certificates/root.crt).

Note, you can easily find all the settings on the YugabyteDB Aeon dashboard:

Run the Application

1. Install the libpq driver:

   • Homebrew users can install using the brew install libpq command (find details here).
   • Others can download the PostgreSQL binaries and source from the PostgreSQL Downloads page.

2. Install the libpqxx driver:

   • Homebrew users can install using the brew install libpqxx command (find details here).
   • Others can build the driver using one of the options listed in the Building libpqxx section.

3. Build the application after replacing {path-to-libpq} and {path-to-libpqxx} with the paths to the libpq and libpqxx installations (for example, /usr/local/opt):

   g++ -std=c++17 sample-app.cpp -o sample-app -lpqxx -lpq \
   -I{path-to-libpq}/libpq/include -I{path-to-libpqxx}/libpqxx/include \
   -L{path-to-libpq}/libpq/lib -L{path-to-libpqxx}/libpqxx/lib 

4. Run the application:

   ./sample-app

Upon successful execution, you will see output similar to the following:

>>>> Connecting to YugabyteDB!
>>>> Successfully connected to YugabyteDB!
>>>> Successfully created table DemoAccount.
>>>> Selecting accounts:
name=Jessica, age=28, country=USA, balance=10000
name=John, age=28, country=Canada, balance=9000
>>>> Transferred 800 between accounts.
>>>> Selecting accounts:
name=Jessica, age=28, country=USA, balance=9200
name=John, age=28, country=Canada, balance=9800

Explore Application Logic

Congrats! You've successfully executed a simple C++ app that works with YugabyteDB.

Now, explore the source code of sample-app.cpp:

1. connect function - establishes a connection with your cloud instance via the libpqxx driver.
2. createDatabase function - creates a table and populates it with sample data.
3. selectAccounts function - queries the data with SQL SELECT statements.
4. transferMoneyBetweenAccounts function - updates records consistently with distributed transactions.

Questions or Issues?

Having issues running this application or want to learn more from Yugabyte experts?

Join our Slack channel, or raise a question on StackOverflow and tag the question with yugabytedb!