Mountain View: Metaprogramming in C++14

In most languages, metaprogramming is a powerful tool that allows writing more expressive and more maintainable code. It is usually relatively straightforward, and even average-Joe programmers can use it to increase their productivity. In C++, metaprogramming is an obscure art that very few people understand and that is never taught as part of the normal curriculum. Even worse is the fact that almost every presentation about metaprogramming is overly complicated, using tricky corners of the language and an unintuitive approach to achieve even simple goals. This presentation will try to break the mold and present metaprogramming in a way that’s easy to grasp. Using C++14 and the Boost.Hana (https://github.com/boostorg/hana) library, we will show how metaprogramming can be done with a reasonably high level of expressiveness, leaving dirty template tricks far behind. We will see how metaprogramming can be used as a tool for making day-to-day programming easier, more enjoyable and more efficient, even for people that are not C++ gurus.

Louis Dionne works for A9.com (http://a9.com/), writing high quality C++ libraries and applications that power Amazon’s search engine. His specialties are modern C++, generic library design, and metaprogramming. He is an active member of the Boost community and the author of the Boost.Hana library.

Join us after the talk at the Tied House for drinks and food!