Template metaprogramming: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Metaprogramming technique}}

{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2010}}

{{Programming paradigms}}

'''Template metaprogramming''' ('''TMP''') is a [[metaprogramming]] technique in which [[Generic programming|templates]] are used by a [[compiler]] to generate temporary [[source code]], which is merged by the compiler with the rest of the source code and then compiled. The output of these templates can include [[compile time|compile-time]] [[constant (programming)|constant]]s, [[data structure]]s, and complete [[function (computer science)|function]]s. The use of templates can be thought of as [[Compile-time function execution|compile-time polymorphism]]. The technique is used by a number of languages, the best-known being [[C++]], but also [[Curl programming language|Curl]], [[D programming language|D]], [[Nim (programming language)|Nim]], and [[XL Programming Language|XL]].

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==Benefits and drawbacks of template metaprogramming==

; Compile-time versus execution-time tradeofftradeoffs get :visible Ifif a great deal of template metaprogramming is used.

;* [[Generic programming]] : Template metaprogramming allows the programmer to focus on architecture and delegate to the compiler the generation of any implementation required by client code. Thus, template metaprogramming can accomplish truly [[Generic programming|generic code]], facilitating code minimization and better maintainability{{Citation needed|date=June 2014}}.

; Readability :* With respect to C++ prior to version ''C++11'', the syntax and idioms of template metaprogramming were esoteric compared to conventional C++ programming, and template metaprograms could be very difficult to understand.<ref>{{cite web

| first1 = K.

| last1 = Czarnecki

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* {{cite book | authorlink1 = David Abrahams (computer programmer) | first1 = David | last1 = Abrahams | authorlink2 = Aleksey Gurtovoy | first2 = Aleksey | last2 = Gurtovoy | title = C++ Template Metaprogramming: Concepts, Tools, and Techniques from Boost and Beyond | publisher = Addison-Wesley | isbn = 0-321-22725-5 | date = January 2005 }}

* {{cite book | authorlink1 = David Vandevoorde | first1 = David | last1 = Vandevoorde | authorlink2 = Nicolai M. Josuttis | first2 = Nicolai M. | last2 = Josuttis | title = C++ Templates: The Complete Guide | publisher = Addison-Wesley | isbn = 0-201-73484-2 | year = 2003 }}

* {{cite book | authorlink = Manuel Clavel | first = Manuel | last = Clavel | title = Reflection in Rewriting Logic: Metalogical Foundations and Metaprogramming Applications | isbn = 1-57586-238-7 | date = 2000-10-16 | publisher = Cambridge University Press }}

==External links==

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* {{cite web | url = https://wiki.haskell.org/Template_Haskell | title = Template Haskell }} (type-safe metaprogramming in Haskell)

* {{cite web | authorlink = Walter Bright | first = Walter | last = Bright | url = http://www.digitalmars.com/d/templates-revisited.html | title = Templates Revisited }} (template metaprogramming in the [[D programming language]])

* {{cite web | url = http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/~xyfeng/teaching/FOPL/lectureNotes/MetaprogrammingCpp.pdf | title = Metaprogramming in C++ | authorlink = Johannes Koskinen | first = Johannes | last = Koskinen | access-date = 2014-06-20 | archive-date = 2014-08-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140828190250/http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/~xyfeng/teaching/FOPL/lectureNotes/MetaprogrammingCpp.pdf | url-status = dead }}

* {{cite web | url = http://lcgapp.cern.ch/project/architecture/ReflectionPaper.pdf | title = Reflection support by means of template metaprogramming | first1 = Giuseppe | last1 = Attardi | first2 = Antonio | last2 = Cisternino | access-date = 2008-10-24 | archive-date = 2016-03-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183212/http://lcgapp.cern.ch/project/architecture/ReflectionPaper.pdf | url-status = dead }}

* {{cite CiteSeerX | citeseerx = 10.1.1.14.5881 | title = Static data structures | first1 = Michael C. | last1 = Burton | first2 = William G. | last2 = Griswold | first3 = Andrew D. | last3 = McCulloch | first4 = Gary A. | last4 = Huber | year = 2002 }}

* {{cite web | url = http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/19989/Template-Meta-Programming-and-Number-Theory | title = Template Meta Programming and Number Theory | first = Zeeshan | last = Amjad | date = 13 August 2007 }}

* {{cite web | url = http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/20180/Template-Meta-Programming-and-Number-Theory-Part | title = Template Meta Programming and Number Theory: Part 2 | first = Zeeshan | last = Amjad | date = 24 August 2007 }}

* {{cite web | url = http://www.intelib.org/intro.html | title = A library for LISP-style programming in C++ }}

{{Programming paradigms navbox}}

[[Category:Metaprogramming]]