Advanced Metaprogramming in Classic C++

Advanced Metaprogramming in Classic C++: Third Edition, offers a detailed and somewhat intense look into template metaprogramming (TMP) using Classic C++ code examples. The two newer standards are not used in the code so that the examples can be rich, illustrate the point, and be run with confidence. The code can be readily adapted to include the elements of the Modern C++ standards. The gain for the reader is that TMP is presented in the book as a set of techniques that will enable a new style to your C++ coding while making it exceptionally clear and efficient.

The book deals with language aspects, design patterns, examples and applications (seen as case studies). Special emphasis is put on small reusable techniques that will improve the quality of daily work. This is a book to sit with and learn from. Users of it in prior editions point out that they come back to it over and over. This edition enhances the readability and clarity of the discussion.

The approach in the book is used to maximize compatibility and clearly illustrate the techniques, enabling the reader to comprehend difficult material without the burdens of compiler errors, and other unnecessary complexities and enabling a much more intense treatment of the subject. For those interested in Modern C++, all subsequent additions to the C++ language are fully compatible with the code in this book and users familiar with them can leverage the techniques introduced in C++XX to make the patterns in this book even more powerful. There is a chapter that discusses issues regarding the two newer standards and the basics needed to program for the newer standards are readily available online.

What makes the book exceptional is the level of understanding of the concepts involved imparted by the author. This is not just a rote overview of metaprogramming. You will truly understand difficult topics like static assertions, how to write metafunctions, overload resolution, lambda expressions, and many others. More than that, you will work through them with practical examples guided by the author's frank explanations. This book requires you to think and to learn and to understand the language so that you can program at a higher level.

What you’ll learn

• What templates and the small object toolkit are, and how to use them
• How to do overload resolution
• How to do metaprogramming with interfaces, algorithms, functors and refactoring
• How to work with code generators
• What is opaque type principle and how to use it
• How to work with debugging templates and more
• A chapter devoted to issues surrounding C++0x and C++14

Who this book is for

This book is for experienced C++ programmers who want to learn more.

About the Author

Davide Di Gennaro loves to introduce himself as a mathematician, but a better definition would be a philosopher. After studying history of art and functional analysis for some years, he switched to algorithm design and C++. He has been showing the marvels of metaprogramming techniques since the late nineties: as nobody could really understand him, he was eventually nicknamed "the professor". He works for big companies, where his real identity is ignored, and he spends his free time as a photographer. Someone said that "he makes the impossible possible".