January 2012 - Boost - lists.boost.org

Re: [boost] size() type
by Olaf van der Spek 18 Mar '12

18 Mar '12

Hi, Any progress on these tickets? Would be nice to have a solution. size() return type should be size_type, not difference_type: https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/5971 data() for iterator_range: https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/5930 Greetings, -- Olaf

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[range] adaptors and member functions pointers
by Yanchenko Maxim 17 Mar '12

17 Mar '12

Hi, While transforming and filtering sequences, it's pretty common to call the elements' member functions, so I think it's worth adding some syntactic sugar for range adaptors in order to achieve cleaner syntax. E.g. if we have a class struct Foo { std::string description() const; }; and we want to get all non-empty descriptions, we could just write this clean code: foo_list | transformed(&Foo::description) | filtered(&std::string::size) To enable this syntax, the attached patch should be applied to boost/range/adaptor/argument_fwd.hpp (diff against 1.47.0). Is there any interest to add this to Boost.Range? Thanks, Maxim

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Determining interest: Pure imaginary number library
by Matthieu Schaller 29 Feb '12

29 Feb '12

Dear all, I have recently been playing a lot on numerical analysis problems containing complex numbers and functions. I have been using the SL std::complex<> library and could observe that some of the algorithms weren't optimized in cases where complex numbers have to be multiplied by pure imaginary numbers (i.e. x*sqrt(-1)). I have implemented a class to represent these numbers and overloaded all relevant operators in a more optimized fashion thanks to the knowledge that the real part of these complex numbers is 0. I could observe an important speed-up in some calculations. As an example, this piece of code (1D Schroedinger equation using finite differences): for(size_t i(0); i<nbPoints; ++i) { Psi_new[i] = Psi_old[i] + ii * hbar * deltaT / (12.*m*deltaX*deltaX) * (-Psi_cur[i-2] + 16.*Psi_cur[i-1] - 30.*Psi_cur[i] + 16.*Psi_cur[i+1] - Psi_cur[i+2]) - 2. * ii * V(x[i]) / hbar * deltaT * Psi_cur[i]; } is more than 2 times faster (g++ 4.6.1 core i7 2820QM) when the imaginary unit (constant) variable ii is defined to be Imaginary<double> ii(1.); than when it is defined as std::complex<double> ii(0.,1.); Some other expressions also benefit from this improvement and can run faster. Expressions including square roots or exponentials of pure imaginary numbers are improved a lot. The range of application of such a class is quite narrow but it may be helpful to speed-up some simple numerical problems. The source code as well as a working example is available here: http://code.google.com/p/cpp-imaginary-numbers/ Thanks, Matthieu

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vsix - template_profiler extension
by Brandon Kohn 27 Feb '12

27 Feb '12

Hello, I've put together a Visual Studio 2010 extension package which wraps the functionality of Steven Watanabe and Domagoj Saric's template_profiler to create a template profile tool. It also adds a command to profile the build time of a project or a single C++ file. Both functions are accessed from the context menu in the solution explorer tree-view. It's still fairly young and could use some kicking about. Are there any VC10 users here that would be interested in giving it a try? Cheers, Brandon

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[move] new rvalue reference emulation
by Jeffrey Lee Hellrung, Jr. 19 Feb '12

19 Feb '12

I've recently discovered (well, probably rediscovered) an alternate rvalue reference emulation, one which allows rvalues ***of any arbitrary (move-emulation-enabled) type*** to be captured in C++03 and identified as rvalues, rather than references-to-const (there is a drawback, though, which I'll get to below; as usual, there's no "free lunch"). This is in contrast to the current move emulation framework Ion has created in Boost.Move which, at best, allows you to capture rvalues of specific types. That is, if you can enumerate the types for which you want to enable rvalue capture, then you're good. For example, if you want to create a generic unary function some_fn, and you know you want to at least capture rvalues of type X, you could do: template< class T > void some_fn(T&); // captures (lvalue) references-to-non-const, explicitly created emulated rvalue references, *and* (lvalue) references-to-(X const) template< class T > typename boost::disable_if< boost::is_same<T,X> >::type void some_fn(T const &); // captures (lvalue) references-to-const *except* (lvalue) references-to-(X const) void some_fn(rv<X>&); // captures rvalues of X as emulated rvalue references However, if Y is any type other than X, the above overloads will capture an rvalue of Y as an (lvalue) reference-to-(Y const). This is one of the shortcomings of using the emulated rvalue reference rv<T>& as a function argument: it can't bind to rvalues in a context where the template parameter T is deduced. Now I don't know if the following proposition is a good idea or not, but I think it is worth considering. Again, we would like the emulated rvalue reference rv<T>& to bind to rvalues, but the problem is the deduction of the T template parameter. Instead of using rv<T>& to capture arbitrary rvalues, I'll use a kind of type-erased emulated rvalue reference, generic_rv<...> (for lack of a better name at the moment), which will just store a void pointer to the original, pre-type-erased object. Of course, we need some way to recover the object back from the void pointer, and that's what the "..." template parameters are for. This is where the (unfortunate) runtime overhead comes in, as some dispatching mechanism (e.g., function pointers) needs to be used to effect the recovery of the original, pre-type-erased object. The important difference between rv<T> and generic_rv<...> is that there's no T in the template parameter list "..." of generic_rv; more to the point, its template parameters are not deduced within the context of binding function arguments of some_fn, hence the compiler will be allowed to look for conversions from arbitrary rvalues to generic_rv<...>. Hopefully that gives enough of an introduction to the idea. Further details are probably best left to a code snippet. Comments? Specifically, should this be considered as an addition to Boost.Move's current emulation framework? Has anyone seen this technique before? ---------------- #include <iostream> #include <boost/type_traits/is_convertible.hpp> #include <boost/utility/enable_if.hpp> // rv<T>& emulates T&& template< class T > class rv : public T { rv(); rv(rv const &); rv& operator=(rv const &); }; template< class T > struct has_move_emulation : boost::is_convertible< T, rv<T>& > { }; // *** NEW EMULATED RVALUE REFERENCE *** // generic_rv< F, Result > also emulates an rvalue reference, but in a kind of // type-erased way. The actual object referred to is referenced by a void // pointer. To be able to cast the void pointer back to a pointer-to-object, we // need to package the void pointer together with some kind of dispatching // mechanism. We use a function pointer to an instantiation of cast_forward<T>. template< class F, class Result = void > struct generic_rv { typedef Result (*p_cast_forward_type)(F, void*); generic_rv(p_cast_forward_type p_cast_forward, void* p) : mp_cast_forward(p_cast_forward), m_p(p) { } Result cast_forward(F f) const { return (*mp_cast_forward)(f, m_p); } template< class T > static Result cast_forward(F f, void* const p) { return f(static_cast< rv<T>& >(*static_cast< T* >(p))); } private: p_cast_forward_type mp_cast_forward; void* m_p; }; // X is just a typical move-emulation-enabled class. struct X { X() { std::cout << "X::X()" << std::endl; } X(X const &) { std::cout << "X::X(X const &)" << std::endl; } X(rv<X>&) { std::cout << "X::X(rv<X>&)" << std::endl; } X& operator=(X) { std::cout << "X::operator=(X)" << std::endl; return *this; } X& operator=(rv<X>&) { std::cout << "X::operator=(rv<X>&)" << std::endl; return *this; } operator rv<X>&() { std::cout << "X::operator rv<X>&()" << std::endl; return *static_cast< rv<X>* >(this); } operator rv<X> const &() const { std::cout << "X::operator rv<X> const &() const" << std::endl; return *static_cast< rv<X> const * >(this); } // *** NEW CONVERSION OPERATOR *** // X provides an implicit conversion to generic_rv. template< class F, class Result > operator generic_rv< F, Result >() { std::cout << "X::operator generic_rv< F, Result >()" << std::endl; return generic_rv< F, Result >( &generic_rv< F, Result >::template cast_forward<X>, static_cast< void* >(this) ); } }; struct some_fn { template< class T > void operator()(T&) const { std::cout << "some_fn::operator()(T&) const" << std::endl; } template< class T > typename boost::disable_if< has_move_emulation<T> >::type operator()(T const &) const { std::cout << "some_fn::operator()(T const &) const" << std::endl; } // Notice that this overload requires template parameter deduction, hence // the compiler cannot apply an implicit conversion to rv<T>& from rvalues // of move-emulation-enabled types. In other words, this overload can only // bind to *explicitly* created emulated rvalue references, not to "real" // rvalues :( template< class T > void operator()(rv<T>&) const { std::cout << "some_fn::operator()(rv<T>&) const" << std::endl; } // *** NEW FUNCTION OVERLOAD TO CAPTURE RVALUES *** // Since this overload requires no template parameter deduction, the // compiler *can* apply an implicit conversion to generic_rv<...> from // rvalues of move-emulation-enabled types. Yes, there will be some runtime // overhead from the function pointer dispatching, but that will often be // preferable to copying x! void operator()(generic_rv< some_fn > const x) const { std::cout << "some_fn::operator()(generic_rv< some_fn >) const" << std::endl; return x.cast_forward(*this); } }; template< class T > T make() { return T(); } int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { int a = 0; int const b = 0; some_fn()(a); // some_fn::operator()(T&) const some_fn()(b); // some_fn::operator()(T const &) const some_fn()(make< int >()); // some_fn::operator()(T const &) const X x; // X::X() X const y; // X::X() some_fn()(x); // some_fn::operator()(T&) const some_fn()(y); // some_fn::operator()(T&) const some_fn()(make<X>()); // X::X() // X::operator generic_rv< F, Result >() // some_fn::operator()(generic_rv< some_fn >) const // some_fn::operator()(rv<T>&) const return 0; } ---------------- - Jeff

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[optional] generates unnessesary code for trivial types
by Hite, Christopher 12 Feb '12

12 Feb '12

When decompiling my code I noticed a bunch of unnessesary code caused by boost::optional. 1) deconstruction typedef boost::optional<int> optional_int; void deconstruct_boost_optional(optional_int& o){ o.~optional_int(); } One would expect this to do nothing. Instead gcc 4.6.0 with O3 generates: if(m_initialized){ // do nothing m_initialized = false; } 00000000 <deconstruct_boost_optional(boost::optional<int>&)>: 0: 8b 44 24 04 mov 0x4(%esp),%eax 4: 80 38 00 cmpb $0x0,(%eax) 7: 74 03 je c <deconstruct_boost_optional(boost::optional<int>&)+0xc> 9: c6 00 00 movb $0x0,(%eax) c: f3 c3 repz ret This one could be easily fixed by removing the bit that sets m_initialized to false, since we're deconstructing anyway. 2) assignment also generates these problems: void assign_boost_optional(optional_int& o){ o=13; } Here there's a semantic issue: we have to decide to use the copy constructor or operator=. This is also wasteful for POD types or any type which has_trivial_copy<>. 3) Even more expensive is if we want to copy an optional<int> void assign_boost_optional(optional_int& a,optional_int& b){ a=b; } 00000000 <assign_boost_optional(boost::optional<int>&, boost::optional<int>&)>: 0: 8b 44 24 04 mov 0x4(%esp),%eax 4: 8b 54 24 08 mov 0x8(%esp),%edx 8: 80 38 00 cmpb $0x0,(%eax) b: 74 0b je 18 <assign_boost_optional(boost::optional<int>&, boost::optional<int>&)+0x18> d: 80 3a 00 cmpb $0x0,(%edx) 10: 75 16 jne 28 <assign_boost_optional(boost::optional<int>&, boost::optional<int>&)+0x28> 12: c6 00 00 movb $0x0,(%eax) 15: c3 ret 16: 66 90 xchg %ax,%ax 18: 80 3a 00 cmpb $0x0,(%edx) 1b: 74 09 je 26 <assign_boost_optional(boost::optional<int>&, boost::optional<int>&)+0x26> 1d: 8b 52 04 mov 0x4(%edx),%edx 20: c6 00 01 movb $0x1,(%eax) 23: 89 50 04 mov %edx,0x4(%eax) 26: f3 c3 repz ret 28: 8b 52 04 mov 0x4(%edx),%edx 2b: 89 50 04 mov %edx,0x4(%eax) 2e: c3 ret Three possible branches! Theoretically single 64 bit copy do the job. I'm tempted to say: it would be best if for any T has_trivial_copy< optional<T> > iff has_trivial_copy<T>. It might make a sense to make an exception for huge T, where the copying an unused T is more expensive than the branching. 4) has_trivial_destructor<T> should impl has_trivial_destructor< optional<T> > , but this is hard to implement without specialization of optional. Checking has_trivial_destructor might take care of the complexity of optional<T&> since has_trivial_destructor< T& >. I'd be willing to fix #1. The other issues need some discussion. Chris

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How to make tests building faster?
by Mateusz Łoskot 10 Feb '12

10 Feb '12

Hi, I'm trying to figure out if there is anything I could do to improve compile/link-time for tests of Boost.Geometry library. Currently, the tests follow fairly canonical approach in Boost: 1) Each .cpp file defines a single test program and all local test routines are executed from test_main() // test_feature_x.cpp void test1() {} // make use of BOOST_CHECK_* macros void test2() {} int test_main(int, char* []) { test1(); test2(); return 0; } 2) Jamfile per testing project builds and runs each program separately # features/Jamfile.v2 test-suite test-features : [ run test_feature_x.cpp ] [ run test_feature_y.cpp ] ; 3) Root mylib/test/Jamfile.v2 defines testing projects to build and run import testing ; project boost-mylib-test : ; build-project features ; build-project algorithms ; build-project abc ; In total, there are nearly 170 test programs in Boost.Geometry. Obviously, running the whole set of tests (b2 command issued in libs\geometry\test) is time consuming process. I'm wondering if there is any way to reorganise the tests to cut down the build (linking) time. My first idea is to decrease number of run entries (e.g. [ run test_feature_y.cpp ] ) in Jamfiles, by building related tests as single test suite program. Conceptually: [ run test_feature_x.cpp test_feature_y.cpp ] Currently, there is no use of Boost.Test features for tests organisation like BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE BOOST_TEST_SUITE etc. I wonder if use of any of the above would help in restructuring tests and decreasing number of programs to build. Another aspect of Boost.Geometry tests I'd like to improve is to improve tests report output. Currently, it is reported as *Passed* or *Failed*. I presume that using Boost.Test to group tests in suits with test cases would improve test report providing details about location of failure (which suite, which case, or even better). I'm looking for any piece of advice on the issues discussed above: - How to cut down build time of tests? - How to improve test output report (and keep it suitable for Boost regression testing framework)? - Is it advised to switch to use Boost.Test features to manage suites and test cases? (I tried to figure it out browsing tests of other libs, but it doesn't indicate any preferred practice). I'd be thankful for any insights. Best regards, -- Mateusz Loskot, http://mateusz.loskot.net

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[hash] regular behaviour of hash function for double values
by Kai Schroeder 07 Feb '12

07 Feb '12

Hi, the following code: double fStart = 31337; double fEnd = 65536; double fStep = fStart - fEnd; fStep /= 512; for (int i = 0; i < 512; i++) { std::cout << std::hex << boost::hash<double>()(fStart + i * fStep) << std::endl; } leads to the output of surprisingly regular hash values (see end of mail). This seems to occur mainly if a power of two number of points is sampled equidistantly within an interval. Especially since some hash table implementations (e.g. intel's threading building blocks) only use the last few bits to determine the bucket, this can lead to very bad caching behaviour for the rather common case of regularly sampled points (equidistant samplings of power of 2 are e.g. common in computer graphics and numerical algorithms). Are you aware of this? Would you consider it a bug? Best regards, Kai Schroeder Output of code using Boost 1.48 (similar behaviour can be observed for other start and end values and other power of 2 step counts): ff9f20000000000f e5042f900000000f 52f13f200000000f 297ac8b00000000f 48721e400000000f 2f9b8dd00000000f 3df0b1600000000f d19cf2f00000000f 9201c800000000f 9409aa100000000f 7cb3fba00000000f d7a42b300000000f b15982c00000000f 5f7900500000000f e0ba85e00000000f 255ee5700000000f cec119000000000f 955bd6900000000f 6a58f4200000000f 843a37b00000000f 590797400000000f 7e8db4d00000000f 1721b6600000000f 37acf9f00000000f df5f65800000000f 88b1a5100000000f 494a0a00000000f bb1082300000000f 1ea62bc00000000f ...

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unordered_map 32bit VS 64bit
by Avikam Bara-nes 07 Feb '12

07 Feb '12

Hi, I'm porting a project from Linux 32bit to Linux 64bit. While doing so I notice that I have a dramatic performance degradation with unordered_map. My platform is Ubuntu 10.4.3 64bit running on Intel Xeon X3220 but, I tested similar program on WindowsXP SP2 64bit which running on Intel i5 and I get the same degradation. My boost version is 1_46_1. I use the following program in order to test unordered_map - Hop I didn't make any copy mistakes :-). #include <stdio.h> #include <sys/time.h> #include <boost/unordered_map.hpp> int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { struct timeval tv_before, tv_after; boost::unordered_map<boost::int_32_t, boost::int32_t> boost_map; boost_map[1] = 2; boost_map[3] = 4; gettimeofday(&tv_before, NULL); for(int i = ; i < 100000; i++) boost_map.find(1); gettimeofday(&tv_after, NULL); printf("Boost time is %f \n", (double)(((tv_after.tv_sec - tv_before.tv_sec) * 1000000 + (double)(tv_after.tv_usec - tv_before.tv_usec)) / 100000)); return 0; } I use the following compile commands: 64bit - g++ -O3 perf_test -o perf_test_64bit 32bit - g++ -m32 -O3 perf_test -o perf_test_32bit When I run the 32bit program I get 0.5 sec When I run the 64bit program I get 1.54 sec Any ideas ???

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[functional] adding overload
by Lorenzo Caminiti 06 Feb '12

06 Feb '12

Hello all, During Boost.Local review, it was proposed to move the overload template out of Local and in Boost.Functional. What would the best name for it? 1) boost::overload_function (my preference) 2) boost::overloaded_function 3) boost::function_overload 4) boost::functional::overload (Boost.Functional seems to use boost:: directly and not boost::functional-- to mimic C++11 <functional>). For example: void print_text(char const* text) { std::cout << text << std::endl; } void print_add(int x, int y = 10) { std::cout << (x + y) << std::endl; } boost::function<void (int, int)> f = print_add; boost::overload_function< void (char const*) , void (int, int) , void (int) > print(print_text, f, print_add); print("abc"); // abc print(1, 2); // 3 print(1); // 11 Docs: https://svn.boost.org/svn/boost/sandbox/local/libs/local/doc/html/boost/loc… Thanks. --Lorenzo

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