Practical C++ Metaprogramming

Table of Contents

1. Preface
   1. A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step
   2. Understanding Metaprogramming
   3. Conventions Used in This Report
   4. Acknowledgments
2. 1. Introduction
   1. A Misunderstood Technique
   2. What Is Metaprogramming?
      1. The Early History of Metaprogramming
      2. Enter C++ Templates
   3. How to Get Started with Metaprogramming
      1. Checking Integer Type
      2. Checking the Memory Model
   4. Summary
3. 2. C++ Metaprogramming in Practice
   1. A Typical Code Maintenance Assignment
   2. Creating a Straightforward Interface
   3. Generating Code Automatically
   4. Making Values and Pointers Work Together
      1. Type Manipulation 101
      2. A Generic Function Translator
      3. Extracting the C Function’s Parameters
      4. Getting a List of Functions and Parameters
      5. Filling the Values for the C Function
      6. Calling the Legacy C Function
      7. Simplifying the Code
   5. Putting It All Together
   6. Summary
4. 3. C++ Metaprogramming and Application Design
   1. Compile-Time Versus Runtime Paradigms
      1. Values at Compile Time
      2. Functions at Compile Time
   2. Type Containers
   3. Compile-Time Operations
      1. Using Pack-Intrinsic Information
      2. Adding and Removing Pack Elements
      3. Pack Rewrapping
      4. Container Transformations
   4. Advanced Uses of Metaprogramming
      1. A Revisited Command Pattern
      2. Compile-Time Serialization
   5. Helper Functions and Libraries
   6. Summary