Compiling C++11 with g++

Flags (or compiler options) are nothing but ordinary command line arguments passed to the compiler executable.

Assuming you are invoking g++ from the command line (terminal):

$ g++ -std=c++11 your_file.cpp -o your_program

or

$ g++ -std=c++0x your_file.cpp -o your_program

if the above doesn't work.

You can check your g++ by command:

which g++
g++ --version

this will tell you which complier is currently it is pointing.

To switch to g++ 4.7 (assuming that you have installed it in your machine),run:

sudo update-alternatives --config gcc

There are 2 choices for the alternative gcc (providing /usr/bin/gcc).

  Selection    Path              Priority   Status
------------------------------------------------------------
  0            /usr/bin/gcc-4.6   60        auto mode
  1            /usr/bin/gcc-4.6   60        manual mode
* 2            /usr/bin/gcc-4.7   40        manual mode

Then select 2 as selection(My machine already pointing to g++ 4.7,so the *)

Once you switch the complier then again run g++ --version to check the switching has happened correctly.

Now compile your program with

g++ -std=c++11 your_file.cpp -o main

Your Ubuntu definitely has a sufficiently recent version of g++. The flag to use is -std=c++0x.