Inlining and Compiler Optimizations

by Scott Wolchok

Why is inlining so important in C++? Clearly, it reduces function call overhead: if a function is inlined, there is no need to spend time setting up its arguments, jumping to it, creating a stack frame, and then undoing all that upon returning. More interestingly, though, inlining enables other compiler optimizations. In this article, I will show examples of constant propagation and loop-invariant code motion (LICM). Then, I will explain how inlining enables these optimizations to apply more widely and show an example of the consequences when that doesn’t happen...

C++ Best Practices

by Jason Turner

Level up your C++, get the tools working for you, eliminate common problems, and move on to more exciting things!

Build Throughput Series: More Efficient Template Metaprogramming

by Xiang Fan

In the previous blog post I shared how template specialization and template instantiation are processed in the MSVC compiler. We will now look at some examples from real-world code bases to show some ways to reduce the number of them...

Semaphores in C++20

by Rainer Grimm

Semaphores are a synchronization mechanism used to control concurrent access to a shared resource. They also allow it to play ping-pong...

Build Throughput Series: Template Metaprogramming Fundamentals

by Xiang Fan

Template metaprogramming is popular and seen in many code bases. However, it often contributes to long compile times. When investigating build throughput improvement opportunities in large codebases, our finding is that more than one million template specializations and template instantiations is quite common and often provides optimization opportunities for significant improvement.

In this blog post, I will walk through the differences between template specialization and template instantiation and how they are processed in the MSVC compiler...

4 Features of Boost HOF That Will Make Your Code Simpler

by Jonathan Boccara

Boost HOF, standing for Higher Order Functions, is a Boost library offering functions that work on functions.

This impressive library provides a lot of advanced components allowing to go a step further into functional programming in C++. In this post, we’ll focus on 4 of the more basic ones (+ a bonus one) that allow to make code simpler in common tasks.

HOF provides one header in the form of #include <boost/hof/XXX.hpp> for each component, as well as a general header #include <boost/hof.hpp>. It is compatible with C++11...

Performance Comparison of Condition Variables and Atomics in C++20

by Rainer Grimm

After the introduction to std::atomic_flag in my last post Synchronization with Atomics in C++20, I want to dive deeper. Today, I create a ping-pong game using condition variables, std::atomic_flag, and std::atomic<bool>. Let's play...

Reusable HTTP(S) Connections

by Richard Hodges

Something I am often asked by users of Boost Beast is how to code a client which effectively re-uses a pool of HTTP connections, in the same way a web browser does.

The premise is straightforward - if our client is going to be making multiple calls to a web server (or several of them) then it makes sense that once a connection has been used for one request, it is returned to a connection pool so that a subsequent request can make use of it...

GotW #97 Solution: Assertions

by Herb Sutter

Assertions have been a foundational tool for writing understandable computer code since we could write computer code... far older than C’s assert() macro, they go back to at least John von Neumann and Herman Goldstine (1947) and Alan Turing (1949). [1,2] How well do we understand them... exactly?

by accu.org

Debt – My First Thirty Years.
Reflecting on code often reveals gnarliness. Frances Buontempo reminds herself about all the tech debt she’s ever caused.

Questions on the Form of Software.
Writing software can be difficult. Lucian Teodorescu considers whether these difficulties are rooted in the essence of development.

Building g++ From the GCC Modules Branch.
Using the WSL to build the g++ modules branch. Roger Orr demonstrates how to get a compiler that supports modules up and running.

Consuming the uk-covid19 API.
Covid-19 data is available in many places. Donald Hernik demonstrates how to wrangle data out of the UK API.

What is the Strict Aliasing Rule and Why Do We Care?
Type Punning, Undefined Behavior and Alignment, Oh My! Strict aliasing is explained.

Afterwood.
Design Patterns emerged last century. Chris Oldwood explains why he thinks they are still relevant.