The new std::expected feature from C++23 not only offers a robust error-handling mechanism but also introduces functional programming techniques like chaining operations with and_then, transforming results with transform, and managing errors using or_else and transform_error. This article explores these features, demonstrating how they can streamline your code by reducing redundant error checks while elegantly managing success and error states. Stay tuned as we dive into practical examples and see how these techniques are applied in real-world projects.

std::expected - Monadic Extensions

by Bartlomiej Filipek

From the article:

std::expected from C++23 not only serves as an error-handling mechanism but also introduces functional programming paradigms into the language. In this blog post, we’ll have a look at functional/monadic extensions of std::expected, which allow us to chain operations elegantly, handling errors at the same time. The techniques are very similar to std::optional extensions - see How to Use Monadic Operations for `std::optional` in C++23 - C++ Stories.

Here’s a brief overview of these functional capabilities:

and_then()
 

The and_then member function enables chaining operations that might produce a std::expected object. It’s invoked when the std::expected object holds a value and allows for seamless operation chaining without manual error checking after each step.