TCS3
====
First, a somewhat delayed reminder that The C++ Seminar will be held in
Vancouver, WA (near Portland, OR) October 28-30. We have a draft
schedule of talks on display at
http://www.thecppseminar.com/03/index.htm#schedule

I'll be giving three talks:

What’s int Got To Do With It?
-------------------------------
Template metaprogramming is heaps of fun, but sometimes limitations on
the precision of compile time arithmetic gets in the way of complete
enjoyment. What if you need to perform compile-time arithmetic on
integers that occupy hundreds or thousands of bits, rather than the 32
or 64 that are typically available? This talk discusses a couple of ways
to get around these limitations. Using a fleshed-out implementation of
a portable typeof operator as motivation, we first solve the problem of
performing arithmetic on integers of unbounded length at compile time.
We then consider the approach of abandoning compile time arithmetic, per
se, in preference to performing arithmetic-like operations on types.
Often, the actual results of the operations are not of interest as long
as abstract arithmetic operations can be performed on the types. Other
times, we can manipulate integers of unbounded magnitude as types and
convert (portions of) the result to integers for more conventional use.
Along the way, we’ll discuss how compiler limitations of various kinds
affect how we code these approaches.

Do You Copy?
---------------
The semantics of copying in C++ are subtle, complex, and important. The
reasons behind this complexity are not frivolous. When we design an
abstract data type, we extend the base C++ language with a new data type
that is integrated into the rest of the type system. On one hand, we are
engaged in programming language design in order to produce a usable,
integrated type. On the other hand, we are engaged in translator design,
in that we must convince the compiler to translate our implementation of
the abstract data type efficiently. The details of copying class objects
are essential to efficient, production quality use of data abstraction.
Equally important to efficiency, of course, is correctness.
Unfamiliarity with the necessarily complex semantics of initialization
in C++ can lead to misuse. In this talk we’ll examine issues of
implementing copy operations, as well as how to convince the compiler to
optimize user-defined copy operations. We’ll also examine several common
(and several obscure) gotchas associated with misunderstanding the
semantics of copying.

Simply Annoying Template Programming Gotchas
--------------------------------------------------
Steve has been spending a lot of time lately using templates to break
C++ compilers. The compilers have fought back, however, tripping him up
with a variety of nasty inadvertent language extensions, translation
limitations, and perfectly legal but unwanted syntactic and semantic
interpretations. This talk presents several gotchas that, although
simple to describe and repair, have nevertheless cost many days of
frustration and despair.

Early bird registration at a 20% discount is available until 15
September. See http://www.thecppseminar.com/03/registration.htm

A BOOK
=======
Addison Wesley and I have just about finished with production of "C++
Gotchas," which will be available in early December. For a preview of
the cover and contents, see http://www.semantics.org/cppgotchas.html
and
http://www.aw.com/catalog/academic/product/1,4096,0321125185,00.html

A BUG!
======
There was a bug in my August C/C++ Users Journal column!!! See
http://www.semantics.org/code.html

Best regards,

Steve
--
Stephen C. Dewhurst Semantics Consulting, Inc.
508-866-9400 phone PO Box 997
508-866-9401 fax Carver, MA 02330
scd@... http://www.semantics.org
==================================================
Check out THE C++ Seminar: 3 Days with 5 Experts
http://www.thecppseminar.com/