In an Atomic World -- Lucian Radu Teodorescu

By Blog Staff | Sep 26, 2024 03:06 PM | Tags: None

Atomics form a relatively low level, but fundamental part of sharing data across threads. Lucian Radu Teodorescu reminds us what atomics are and how and when to use them.

In an Atomic World

by Lucian Radu Teodorescu

From the article:

We often discuss mutexes as the basic building blocks of concurrency. However, there are more fundamental concepts upon which concurrent programs and synchronization primitives are constructed. The C++ language defines a memory model, which describes how programs behave when multiple threads are involved. Additionally, C++ introduces atomic operations that serve as foundation for working with data across threads, ensuring both safety and performance. The goal of C++ atomics is to closely align with the hardware and eliminate the need for lower-level operations that must work across threads.

The topic of atomics is often overlooked, and the prevailing advice is to avoid them. While this advice is generally sound, there are occasions when we need to use atomics to fully leverage the language’s capabilities. This article aims to give atomics the attention they deserve, as they have yet to be featured in an Overload article.

The subject of atomics is extensive. For a comprehensive exploration, readers are encouraged to consult books by Anthony Williams [Williams19] and Mara Bos [Bos23]. While the Bos book primarily focuses on Rust, there is still much to be learned about atomics for C++ programmers. The reader can also consider cppreference.com for a quick reference to the atomics library [cppreference-1] In this article, we will examine various memory ordering models and illustrate their usage through simplified practical examples.

2024-09 Mailing Available

By Administrator | Sep 25, 2024 09:33 PM | Tags: None

The 2024-09 mailing of new standards papers is now available.

Meeting C++ 2024: the online track is complete

By Meeting C++ | Sep 25, 2024 05:35 AM | Tags: meetingcpp events conference community

The last part of the program for Meeting C++ 2024 is now ready: the online track.

The online track for Meeting C++ 2024 is complete!

by Jens Weller

From the article:

With this the program for Meeting C++ 2024 is now complete! The online track features 11 talks and will be prerecorded publically in October.

The talks of the online track are:

• An Introduction to Vulkan and C++ by Michael Shah
• From C to Modern C++: Transforming the classroom and beyond by Gabriel Valenzuela
• Writing VSCode extensions for fun an profit by Nikolaj Fogh
• Python's asyncio in C++ for Terminal Graphics by Fernando Iglesias
• Mimicking SQL: API Design Choices by Jonathan O'Connor
• What is a static function, but isn't a static function? by Miloš Anđelković
• Customising clang-tidy to modernise your legacy C++ code by Mike Crowe
• Parallel Algorithms, Ranges and oneDPL by Abhilash Majumder
• An overview on the C++26 highlights by Rainer Grimm
• Starting a modern C++ Project with CMake in 2024 by Jens Weller
• A tour through the Meeting C++ community survey by Jens Weller

Temporarily Dropping a Lock: The Anti-lock Pattern -- Raymond Chen

By Blog Staff | Sep 24, 2024 02:43 PM | Tags: None

In C++, it's common to use RAII types like std::lock_guard to manage synchronization primitives, ensuring a lock is acquired at object creation and released at destruction. However, a less common but useful pattern is the "anti-lock," which temporarily releases a lock and reacquires it later, useful in scenarios where you need to drop a lock while performing certain operations, like calling out to other components to avoid deadlocks.

Temporarily Dropping a Lock: The Anti-lock Pattern

by Raymond Chen

From the article:

There is a common pattern in C++ of using an RAII type to manage a synchronization primitive. There are different versions of this, but they all have the same basic pattern:

• Creating the object from a synchronization object: Locks the synchronization object.
• Destructing the object: Unlocks the synchronization object.

These types go by various names, like std::lock_guard, std::unique_lock, or std::coped_lock, and specific libraries may have versions for their own types, such as C++/WinRT’s winrt::slim_lock_guard and WIL’s wil::rwlock_release_exclusive_scope_exit (which you thankfully never actually write out; just use auto).

One thing that is missing from most standard libraries, however, is the anti-lock.

The idea of the anti-lock is that it counteracts an active lock.

CopperSpice: Template Design With Policy Classes

By Ansel Sermersheim | Sep 24, 2024 01:20 PM | Tags: None

New video on the CopperSpice YouTube Channel:

Template Design With Policy Classes

by Barbara Geller and Ansel Sermersheim

About the video:

We have a new C++ video which discusses Policy Based Design and compares it to other styles of programming. Do you know which design pattern policy based programming solves? Have you considered the benefits of a design which provides a solution at compile time versus run time? Are you using policies and maybe you had no idea they had a name?

Please take a look and remember to subscribe.

Reflection-based JSON in C++ at Gigabytes per Second -- Daniel Lemire

By Blog Staff | Sep 20, 2024 02:27 PM | Tags: None

JSON is a widely-used format for data exchange, but in C++, handling JSON efficiently can be challenging. While current solutions like simdjson offer high-speed processing, upcoming features in C++26, such as powerful reflection, promise to simplify and accelerate the serialization and deserialization of JSON, making it both faster and more convenient for developers.

Reflection-based JSON in C++ at Gigabytes per Second

by Daniel Lemire

From the article:

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a popular format for storing and transmitting data. It uses human-readable text to represent structured data in the form of attribute–value pairs and arrays. E.g., {"age":5, "name":"Daniel", toys:["wooden dog", "little car"]}. Ingesting and producing JSON documents can be a performance bottleneck. Thankfully, a few JSON parsers such as simdjson have shown that we can process JSON at high speeds, reaching gigabytes per second.

However, producing and ingesting JSON data can remain a chore in C++. The programmer often needs to address potential errors such as unexpected content.

Yet, often, the programmer only needs to map the content to and from a native C/C++ data structure.

User-Defined Formatting in std::format – Part 3 -- Spencer Collyer

By Blog Staff | Sep 17, 2024 02:11 PM | Tags: None

We’ve seen formatting for simple classes and more complicated types. Spencer Collyer finishes his series by showing us how to apply specific formatting to existing classes.

User-Defined Formatting in std::format – Part 3

by Spencer Collyer

From the article:

In the previous articles in this series [Collyer24a], [Collyer24b] I showed how to write classes to format user-defined classes and container classes using the std::format library.

In this article I will show you how to create format wrappers, special purpose classes that allow you to apply specific formatting to objects of existing classes.

A note on the code listings: The code listings in this article have lines labelled with comments like // 1. Where these lines are referred to in the text of this article it will be as ‘line 1’ for instance, rather than ‘the line labelled // 1’.

Format wrappers

I’d now like to introduce a type of class which I call ‘format wrappers’. A format wrapper is a very simple class which wraps a value of another type. They exist purely so that we can define a formatter for the format wrapper. The idea is that the formatter will then output the wrapped value using a specific set of formatting rules. Hopefully this will become clearer when we discuss the Quoted format wrapper later.

A format wrapper is a very simple class, which normally consists of just a constructor taking an object of the wrapped type, and a public member variable holding a copy or reference to that value. They are intended to be used in the argument list of one of std::format’s formatting functions, purely as a way to select the correct formatter.

Adding trainings to Meeting C++ 2024

By Meeting C++ | Sep 17, 2024 09:25 AM | Tags: training meetingcpp community c++20

Meeting C++ now offers 4 trainings that align with Meeting C++ 2024, and will be held in the last week of November.

Adding C++ trainings to Meeting Cpp 2024

by Jens Weller

From the article:

Trainings listing

    C++ for C Developers - Migrating from C to C++ - a two day training by Slobodan Dmitrovic starting November 25th
    Program with GUTs - a half day training by Kevlin Henney on November 25th
    Generic programming in C++ with templates and auto - full day training by Nicolai Josuttis on November 28th
    Concepts, Ranges, and Views - The New Way of Programming in C++ - full day training by Nicolai Josuttis on November 29th

These 4 trainings focus on various important current aspects of C++. From the migration to C++ from C, which is also a great course if you migrate to Modern C++ from "C with classes" like code. Or a refresher on unit testing by Kevlin Henney himself. Nicolai Josuttis gives a two day training, which is also available as single days: on the first day generic programming with templates and auto is bringing you a referesher, while focusing on C++20 Concepts, Ranges and Views on the next day. I've made the decision that prices for trainings are now fixed, half/full day trainings are 499 € and two day trainings are 999 €, this already includes taxes and all fees from the ticketshop. Attending the trainings will let you learn great new ways to think about your code and it gives support Meeting C++!

CppCon 2024 High-Performance Numerical Integration in the Age of C++26 -- Vincent Reverdy

By Blog Staff | Sep 13, 2024 02:19 PM | Tags: None

Registration is now open for CppCon 2024! The conference starts on September 15 and will be held in person in Aurora, CO. To whet your appetite for this year’s conference, we’re posting some upcoming talks that you will be able to attend this year. Here’s another CppCon future talk we hope you will enjoy – and register today for CppCon 2024!

High-Performance Numerical Integration in the Age of C++26

Friday, September 20 13:30 - 14:30 MDT

by Vincent Reverdy

Summary of the talk:

Could we revisit numerical integrators in the light of C++26 and bring more genericity, performance, and expressivity to the domain? In this talk, we will explore how modern C++ techniques can add something new and relevant to one of the oldest and most basic task of scientific computing: the integration of systems of equations. We will examine, in particular, how most numerical integrators can be derived from a small set of first principles that can be easily mapped onto C++ concepts and composable algorithmic building blocks. One of the goal of the approach introduced in this presentation will be to achieve as much as possible with the simplest and smallest amount of code. C++23 and C++26 programming techniques, including reflection, will be leveraged to transfer some of the burden of implementation to the compiler while still ensuring maximum performance.

In practice, the talk will combine aspects of high-performance computing, numerical methods, and software architecture. We will start by summarizing recent discoveries made in applied mathematics on Runge-Kutta methods, linear multistep methods, and general linear methods to see how it can help design better abstractions that can be translated into C++ concepts. We will then examine how a few carefully crafted algorithmic building blocks can be combined to generate the whole diversity of numerical integrators from first principles. The automation of this approach using C++23 and C++26's reflection to make the compiler generate highly efficient code will be then discussed in great length. Next, we will dive into parallelization strategies, including distributed ones as well as heterogenous computing. Some perspectives will also be given on the possibility for the compiler to branch on the best integrator given the mathematical properties of a system of equations as well as ways to derive new integrators at compile-time.

To illustrate our approach, we will examine the behavior and performance of numerous integrators on several real-world problems including a supercomputing N-body code for cosmology that simulates the gravitational dynamics of large scale astrophysical structures in an expanding Universe. A great care will be taken to make all the code and examples as reproducible and standalone as possible so that most of the presented content can simply be copied and pasted to make it work everywhere. Finally, even if the talk will focus on the particular case of numerical integration, the methodology presented in this talk will be applicable everywhere in scientific computing and beyond to achieve better software architecture in technical contexts.

Vincent Reverdy is a Full Researcher in Computer Science and Astrophysics at French Center for Scientific Research (CRNS) and located at the Annecy Laboratory for Particle Physics (LAPP) in the French Alps. He also is a member of the French delegation to the C++ Standards Committee. After a PhD at the Paris Observatory in 2014 on the topic of numerical cosmology and general relativity for which he explored extensively advanced metaprogramming techniques, he joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US. There, he led an interdisciplinary research group in both computer science and computational astrophysics, trying to bridge the gap between programming languages and computational sciences. In late 2019 he moved back to France to continue to work on software architecture aspects related to astrophysics, and joined CNRS in January 2022 to lead long-term research aiming at building bridges between theoretical computer science including type theory and category theory on one side, and computational sciences with a focus on numerical astrophysics on the other side. Finally, as a member of the C++ committee, he has been working extensively on low-level programming components, including bit manipulation, as well as mathematical abstractions.

CppCon 2024 Contracts for C++ -- Timur Doumler

By Blog Staff | Sep 11, 2024 02:16 PM | Tags: None

Registration is now open for CppCon 2024! The conference starts on September 15 and will be held in person in Aurora, CO. To whet your appetite for this year’s conference, we’re posting some upcoming talks that you will be able to attend this year. Here’s another CppCon future talk we hope you will enjoy – and register today for CppCon 2024!

Contracts for C++

Wednesday, September 18 14:00 - 15:00 MDT

by Timur Doumler

Summary of the talk:

Design by Contract is a very effective approach for writing safer, more correct programs. It has been successfully implemented in programming languages like Eiffel and Ada. Attempts to add a Contracts facility to C++ have a long and storied history spanning two decades. Since the last attempt to standardise Contracts (for the C++20 Standard) has failed, SG21 — the Contracts Study Group on the C++ Standard Committee – has been working on a new design, the so-called Contracts MVP, which is now essentially feature-complete and on track to make it into the upcoming C++26 Standard.

In this talk, we present the current design of the Contracts MVP targeting C++26. We discuss preconditions, postconditions, assertions, contract-violation handling and much more. We consider how the Contracts MVP provides a superior replacement for custom assertion macros and, when used correctly, can significantly improve the safety and correctness of your code.

Timur Doumler is the co-host of CppCast and an active member of the ISO C++ standard committee, where he is currently co-chair of SG21, the Contracts study group. Timur started his journey into C++ in computational astrophysics, where he was working on cosmological simulations. He then moved into the audio and music technology industry, where he has been working for over a decade and co-founded the music tech startup Cradle. In the past, Timur also worked for JetBrains, first as a developer on CLion's C++ parser and later as a Developer Advocate for C++ developer tools. Currently, Timur lives in Finland, where he is organising the monthly C++ Helsinki meetup. Timur is passionate about clean code, good tools, low latency, and the evolution of the C++ language.