Constructing Nodes of a Hand-made Linked List, How Hard Can it Be?

by Raymond Chen

Suppose you are writing your own circular doubly-linked list structure.

struct node
{
    node* prev;
    node* next;
};

A natural choice for the default constructor is to make the node the sole element of a circular doubly-linked list.

struct node
{
    node* prev = this;
    node* next = this;
};

What if you also want to add a node after an existing node? Well, we could add a constructor for that.

struct node
{
    node* prev = this;
    node* next = this;

    node() = default;

    // Construct a node after a specific node
    node(node* other) : 
     prev(other), 
     next(other->next) 
    { 
     prev->next = this; 
     next->prev = this; 
    } 
};

(Note that the “construct after another node” constructor takes the other node by pointer, rather than by reference, so that it won’t be mistaken for a copy constructor.)

But maybe you also want to have a “before” constructor that inserts the new node before an existing node...

What's So Hard About Class Types as Non-type Template Parameters?

by Barry Revzin

Before C++20, the only types you could use as non-type template parameters were scalar types (like int and enums, but not floating point), pointers (including pointers-to-members), and references. Notably, not class types.

Floating point types were also added in C++20.

The hard question about handling class types is: how do you determine template argument equivalence? Class types can define their own equality. But you don’t really want to rely on that, since now matching specializations becomes a quadratic problem — you can’t really do much when determining the instantiation for some template f<x> other than looping through every other value vi to see if x == vi.

The other problem is we need == to really be strong enough. One very easy problem to run into in this space is violating the One Definition Rule (ODR). One essential, core requirement for templates is that instantiating the same template with the same arguments has to yield the same code.

Highlighting the student and support tickets for Meeting C++ 2024

by Jens Weller

Like every year, I'd like to point towards the programs for those that can't afford to pay for a ticket for Meeting C++ 2024.

And let me start with thanking those that enable these programs through their ticket buying: the attendees and sponsors of Meeting C++ 2024! With the schedule published, I'd like to highlight the student and support tickets for Meeting C++ 2024. For a few years now Meeting C++ has hosted programs to give students, underrepresented folks and those who can't afford a ticket access to the conference.