Book Image

Template Metaprogramming with C++

By : Marius Bancila
5 (1)
Book Image

Template Metaprogramming with C++

5 (1)
By: Marius Bancila

Overview of this book

Learn how the metaprogramming technique enables you to create data structures and functions that allow computation to happen at compile time. With this book, you'll realize how templates help you avoid writing duplicate code and are key to creating generic libraries, such as the standard library or Boost, that can be used in a multitude of programs. The introductory chapters of this book will give you insights into the fundamentals of templates and metaprogramming. You'll then move on to practice writing complex templates and exploring advanced concepts such as template recursion, template argument deduction, forwarding references, type traits, and conditional compilation. Along the way, you'll learn how to write variadic templates and how to provide requirements to the template arguments with C++20 constraints and concepts. Finally, you'll apply your knowledge of C++ metaprogramming templates to implement various metaprogramming patterns and techniques. By the end of this book, you'll have learned how to write effective templates and implement metaprogramming in your everyday programming journey.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
1
Part 1: Core Template Concepts
5
Part 2: Advanced Template Features
9
Part 3: Applied Templates
Appendix: Closing Notes

Writing a custom general-purpose algorithm

In the first section of this chapter, we saw why abstracting access to container elements with iterators is key for building general-purpose algorithms. However, it should be useful for you to practice writing such an algorithm because it can help you better understand the use of iterators. Therefore, in this section, we will write a general-purpose algorithm.

The standard library features many such algorithms. One that is missing is a zipping algorithm. What zipping means is actually interpreted or understood differently by different people. For some, zipping means taking two or more input ranges and creating a new range with the elements from the input ranges intercalated. This is exemplified in the following diagram:

Figure 8.4

For others, zipping means taking two or more input ranges and creating a new range, with elements being tuples formed from the elements of the input ranges. This is shown in the next diagram...