static_functional

This is a standalone header-only C++20 library providing compile-time functional operators (composition, bind, and so on) that work with raw function pointers. It lets you conveniently generate new wrapper functions from existing function pointers at compile time in various ways, and call the resulting functions at runtime.

A C++20 compile-time type list library is also included, mostly just to avoid the need for any transitive dependencies—the functional part requires such a library for its implementation—but it's there, and should be fairly nice to use if you want to.

Motivating example 1

#include <sfn/functional.h>

int add_one(int x) {
  return x + 1;
}

int square(int x) {
  return x * x;
}

// sfn::ptr<int(int)> is an alias for int (*)(int)
sfn::ptr<int(int)> fp = sfn::compose<&square, &add_one>;
fp(2);  // returns 9

Motivating example 2

#include <sfn/functional.h>

struct Foo {
  int f(int x) const {
    return x;
  }
};

// sfn::ptr<int(const Foo&)> is an alias for int (*)(const Foo&)
sfn::ptr<int(const Foo&)> fp = sfn::bind_back<&Foo::f, 42>;
fp(Foo{});  // returns 42

Why?

Higher-level facilities like lambdas and <functional> are great, but function pointers are simple. They don't allocate memory, they can be passed around and stored without writing templates or doing type erasure, and there's no chance of lifetime issues due to hidden dependencies on lambda-captures. Sometimes they're all you need. This library makes working with them feel a bit more modern and nice.

Setup

All you need is the two header files in include/sfn and the include directory on your include path.

Bazel users can use the following:

load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl", "http_archive")
http_archive(
  name = "static_functional",
  sha256 = "4a6c55792b6d610f6248072f53ce81641517f44f2442446dc966619b9342665c",
  strip_prefix = "static-functional-1.0.0-alpha1",
  url = "https://github.com/grandseiken/static-functional/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.0-alpha1.zip",
)
# now depend on @static_functional

Compiler support

Should work with any compiler that supports C++20 language features.

Tested on:

gcc 11.2.0 (Linux)
clang 14.0.0 (Linux)
clang-cl 14.0.6 (Windows)
MSVC 2022 17.2.6 (Windows)

If your compiler can compile the files in the test directory, everything should work fine. You don't need to run anything, the tests are all done at compile time.

Troubleshooting

Please file an issue if something doesn't work as expected. Pull requests are also welcome.

<sfn/functional.h>

Basics

The library defines several concepts, used throughout for checking inputs:

template <typename T>
concept member_function = /* satisfied if T is a pointer-to-member-function type */;
template <typename T>
concept function =        /* satisifed if T is a function pointer type, function reference
                             type, or pointer-to-member-function type */;
template <typename T>
concept function_type =   /* satisfied if T is a bare function type, e.g. void(int) */;
template <typename T>
concept functional =      /* satisfied if T is any of the above */;

For any type satisfying any of the above concepts, the following definitions allow inspection of its function type:

template <functional T>
using function_type_of =   /* bare function type of T, e.g. void(int),
                              always without noexcept specifier */;
template <functional T>
using return_type_of =     /* return type of (function type of) T */;
template <functional T>
using parameter_types_of = /* type list containing parameter types of
                              (function type of) T, i.e. sfn::list<Args...> */;
template <functional T>
inline constexpr bool is_noexcept = /* true if the function type of T
                                       has the noexcept specifier */;

Note that pointer-to-member-function types are transparently converted to regular function pointer types, so e.g. with struct A { void f(); };, sfn::parameter_types_of<&A::f> would be sfn::list<A&> (see sfn::unwrap below for more).

Since function pointer types can be awkward to write, aliases are provided for convenience. You can use them if you don't already have something similar:

template <function_type T>
using ptr = T*;  /* e.g. sfn::ptr<void(int)> is an alias for void (*)(int) */
template <function_type T>
using ref = T&;  /* similarly for references */

`sfn::unwrap`

Pointer-to-member-function types are awkward, and nobody likes them. sfn::unwrap makes them go away:

template <function auto F>
inline constexpr auto unwrap = /* ... */;

If f is a pointer-to-member-function of some type T, sfn::unwrap<f> is a (nonmember) function pointer with converted signature (i.e. the implicit first T&, const T& or T&& parameter is made explicit). Calling it has the same behaviour as invoking f.
Otherwise, sfn::unwrap<f> is equal to f.

Example

struct Foo {
  void hello() const { std::cout << "Hello, world!" << std::endl; }
  int f(int);
};

void (*foo_hello_fp)(const Foo&) = sfn::unwrap<&Foo::hello>;
foo_hello_fp(Foo{});               // prints "Hello, world!"
auto* fp = sfn::unwrap<&Foo::f>;   // type is int (*)(Foo&, int)

All of the other functional operators below implicitly sfn::unwrap their arguments, so any pointer-to-member-function &T::f of type R (T::*)(Args...) is transparently handled by the library as if it were a regular function pointer of type R (*)(T&, Args...); similarly for const T& and T&&.

`sfn::sequence`

template <typename T, typename... Rest>
concept sequencable = functional<T> && (functional<Rest> && ...) && /* ... */;

template <function auto F, function auto... Rest>
requires sequencable<decltype(F), decltype(Rest)...>
inline constexpr auto sequence = /* ... */;

Given one or more functions with identical lists of parameter types, sfn::sequence<f, g, ...> is a function pointer with behaviour equivalent to calling all of f, g, ... in sequence with the same list of arguments, and returning the value returned by the last function, if any. In this way, sfn::sequence works much like the comma operator.

Since the same set of arguments is reused for each call, none of the parameter types involved may be rvalue-references and all of them must be copy-constructible, unless only a single function is being sequenced, in which case sfn::sequence<f> is just f.

The concept sfn::sequencable<F, G...> checks that an instantiation of sfn::sequence would be valid; it is satisfied for sfn::functional types F, G ... such that values of corresponding sfn::function types obey the rules above.

If you need to sequence functions that have similar rather than identical parameter lists, you can use sfn::cast (below) first to convert them to a compatible signature.

Example

void f(int, int);
int g(int, int);
void h(int);

int (*fp)(int, int) = sfn::sequence<&f, &g>;
fp(1, 2);                  // equivalent to (f(1, 2), g(1, 2)), returns result of g
// sfn::sequence<&f, &h>;  // error: constraint not satisfied, parameter lists differ

struct Foo {
  void f() const;
  void g() const;
};

auto* foo_fp = sfn::sequence<&Foo::f, &Foo::g>;
Foo foo;
foo_fp(foo);  // calls foo.f() and foo.g()

`sfn::cast`

template <typename Source, typename Target>
concept castable_to = functional<Source> && function_type<Target> && /* ... */;

template <function_type T, function auto F>
requires castable_to<decltype(F), T>
inline constexpr auto cast = /* ... */;

sfn::cast lets you convert a function pointer from one type to another, as long as the types are reasonably compatible, obtaining a new function pointer that just does "the right thing".

More concretely, consider casting a function pointer fp with source function type R(Args...) to target type RT(ArgsT...) using sfn::cast<RT(ArgsT...), fp>:

R must be convertible to RT (R can be anything if RT is void).
ArgsT may have more elements than Args. The casted function will simply not use the additional arguments it receives.
ArgsT may have fewer elements than Args, as long as the missing types are default-constructible. The casted function will fill in missing values by value-initialising them.
Each matching element of ArgsT must be convertible to the corresponding element of Args.

The concept sfn::castable_to<F, T> encodes these rules for sfn::functional type F and sfn::function_type target T.

Adding the noexcept specifier to the the target type forces the type of the resulting function pointer to also have the noexcept specificer, regardless of whether it is present on the source type and conversions involved.

If the source and target types are identical modulo noexcept specifier, and either the target type does not have the noexcept specifier or the source already type does (i.e. the cast would do nothing), sfn::cast<T, f> is just f.

Example

int sum(int x, int y) {
  return x + y;
}

void (*fp)(int, int) = sfn::cast<void(int, int), &sum>;
fp(1, 2);                                          // calls sum(1, 2), discards result
sfn::cast<int(int), &sum>(1);                      // calls sum(1, 0), returns 1
sfn::cast<int(int, int, int), &sum>(1, 2, 42);     // calls sum(1, 2), returns 3
sfn::cast<float(float, float), &sum>(1.5f, 2.7f);  // calls sum(1, 2), returns 3.f

struct Foo {
  void f() const;
  void g();
};
auto* foo_fp = sfn::cast<void(Foo&), &Foo::f>;  // OK
// sfn::cast<void(const Foo&), &Foo::g>;        // error: constraint not satisfied,
                                                // const Foo& not convertible to Foo&

`sfn::reinterpret`

template <typename Source, typename Target>
concept reinterpretable_as = functional<Source> && function_type<Target> && /* ... */;

template <function_type T, function auto F>
requires reinterpretable_as<decltype(F), T>
inline constexpr auto reinterpret = /* ... */;

sfn::reinterpret is similar to sfn::cast, in that it converts a function pointer from one type to another, but the generated function translates arguments and return values via reinterpret_cast. Additionally, it will insert pointer-dereference and address-of operators to translate back and forth between pointer and reference types.

It is designed for convenient interop with C libraries that incorporate callbacks with void* userdata pointers, and the like, as part of their API.

Specifically, a function is reinterpretable as some target function type if corresponding parameter types and return types are either identical, or could be converted with reinterpret_cast, or one is a pointer and the other is a reference and both have the same const-ness.

Obviously, this is a bit dangerous and can easily lead to undefined behaviour if used incorrectly; handle with at least as much care as you would reinterpret_cast.

Example

// hypothetical interface of some C library
typedef int library_callback(void* userdata, int arg);
int library_do_work(void* userdata, library_callback* cb);

// our C++ code
struct Foo {
  int callback(int x) {
    return x;
  }
};

Foo foo;
// library_do_work() calls foo.callback() when it invokes cb(userdata, ...)
library_do_work(&foo, sfn::reinterpret<library_callback, &Foo::callback>);
// sfn::reinterpret<library_callback, &Foo::callback> is equivalent to
// int f(void* userdata, int arg) {
//   return std::invoke(&Foo::callback, *reinterpret_cast<Foo*>(userdata), arg);
// }

`sfn::bind_front` and `sfn::bind_back`

template <typename F, typename... Args>
concept bindable_front = functional<F> && /* ... */;
template <typename F, typename... Args>
concept bindable_back = functional<F> && /* ... */;

template <function auto F, auto... Values>
requires bindable_front<decltype(F), decltype(Values)....>
inline constexpr auto bind_front = /* ... */;

template <function auto F, auto... Values>
requires bindable_back<decltype(F), decltype(Values)....>
inline constexpr auto bind_back = /* ... */;

These are compile-time analogues of std::bind_front and std::bind_back for raw function pointers. sfn::bind_front<f, values...> is a pointer to a function whose behaviour is equivalent to invoking f with its first N parameters bound to values; sfn::bind_back<f, values...> is the same for the last N parameters.

Binding zero arguments does not modify the pointer, i.e. bind_front<f> and bind_back<f> are both just f.

As usual, the concepts sfn::bindable_front<F, Args...> and sfn::bindable_back<F, Args...> check that instantiations of sfn::bind_front and sfn::bind_back respectively would be valid; namely, that the function type of F has at least as many parameters as there are values to be bound, and that the types of the provided values are convertible to the corresponding parameter types of F.

Example

int subtract(int x, int y) {
  return x - y;
}

sfn::bind_front<&subtract, 3>(1);       // calls subtract(3, 1), returns 2
sfn::bind_back<&subtract, 3>(1);        // calls subtract(1, 3), returns -2
// sfn::bind_back<&subtract, 1, 2, 3>;  // error: constaint not satisfied, too many args

struct Foo {
  constexpr Foo() = default;
  void f() const;
};

sfn::bind_front<&Foo::f, Foo{}>();   // equivalent to Foo{}.f()
// sfn::bind_front<&Foo::f, 1>;      // error: constraint not satisfied,
                                     // int not convertible to const Foo&

`sfn::compose_front` and `sfn::compose_back`

template <typename G, typename F>
concept composable_front = functional<G> && functional<F> && /* ... */;
template <typename G, typename F>
concept composable_back = functional<G> && functional<F> && /* ... */;
template <typename G, typename F>
concept composable = functional<G> && functional<F> && /* ... */;

template <function auto G, function auto F>
requires composable_front<decltype(G), decltype(F)>
inline constexpr auto compose_front = /* ... */;

template <function auto G, function auto F>
requires composable_back<decltype(G), decltype(F)>
inline constexpr auto compose_back = /* ... */;

template <function auto G, function auto F>
requires composable<decltype(G), decltype(F)>
inline constexpr auto compose = /* ... */;

sfn::compose_front<g, f> is a pointer to a function that calls g, by first calling f to obtain the first argument for g, converting if necessary, and forwarding the remaining arguments. That is, sfn::compose_front<g, f>(xs..., ys...) is equivalent to g(T(f(xs...)), ys...) (where the number of elements in xs is equal to the number of parameters of f, the number of elements in ys is equal to the number of parameters of g minus one, and T is the type of the first parameter of g).

Similarly, sfn::compose_back<g, f> calls f to get the last argument for g, so sfn::compose_back<g, f>(ys..., xs...) is equivalent to g(ys..., T(f(xs...))).

Constraints sfn::composable_front<G, F> and sfn::composable_back<G, F> check that the function type of G has at least one parameter, and that the return type of the function type of F is convertible to the appropriate parameter type of the function type of G.

The constraint sfn::composable<G, F> is similar, but satisfied only when G has exactly one parameter. In this case, sfn::compose_front<g, f> and sfn::compose_back<g, f> are equivalent, and you can just write sfn::compose<g, f>.

Example

int add(int x, int y) {
  return x + y;
}
int subtract(int x, int y) {
  return x - y;
}

int (*sub_add_left)(int, int, int) = sfn::compose_front<&subtract, &add>;
int (*sub_add_right)(int, int, int) = sfn::compose_back<&subtract, &add>;
sub_add_left(1, 2, 3);   // returns (1 + 2) - 3 = 0
sub_add_right(1, 2, 3);  // returns 1 - (2 + 3) = -4

int f();
void g(int);
sfn::ptr<void()> fp = sfn::compose<g, f>;  // fp() is equivalent to g(f())

Notes

Overhead

The function pointers produced by sfn operators are ultimately pointers to static member functions of template type instantiations. The template arguments of such an instantiation include the values of the original function pointers passed as input to the operator and so, if definitions are available, e.g. compose<g, f> can inline the definitions of g and f just as a manually-written equivalent function could.

Move-only types and perfect forwarding

The wrapper functions produced by sfn operators std::move their arguments into the target whenever it makes sense to do so (more or less, if the parameter type to be forwarded is not an lvalue-reference), so this should all work fine.

`noexcept` wrappers

The wrapper functions produced by sfn operators will be automatically be declared noexcept if all of the move constructors, converting constructors and actual input functions involved are themselves declared noexcept. sfn::cast can also be used to explicitly produce a noexcept wrapper, e.g. by sfn::cast<void(int) noexcept, &f>.

`constexpr` functions

The function pointers produced by sfn operators are constexpr and can be used in constant-evaluated contexts. With the exception of sfn::reinterpret, the functions they point to are also constexpr and can be used (i.e. the pointers can be invoked) in constant-evaluated contexts if all of the the move constructors, converting constructors and actual input functions involved are themselves also constexpr. For example:

constexpr int add(int x, int y) {
  return x + y;
}
static_assert(sfn::bind_front<&add, 1, 2>() == 3);  // OK

<sfn/type_list.h>

`sfn::list`

template <typename...>
struct list {};
template <typename T>
concept type_list = /* satisfied if T is any list<Ts...> */;

Basic operations

template <type_list A>
inline constexpr std::size_t size = /* ... */;  // size<list<T, U>> == 2
template <type_list A>
inline constexpr bool empty = !size<A>;         // empty<list<>> == true

template <type_list A, type_list B>
using concat = /* ... */;   // concat<list<T, U>, list<V, W>> == list<T, U, V, W>
template <typename T, type_list A>
using append = /* ... */;   // append<T, list<U, V>> == list<U, V, T>
template <typename T, type_list A>
using prepend = /* ... */;  // prepend<T, list<U, V>> == list<T, U, V>

template <type_list A> requires(!empty<A>)
using drop_front = /* ... */;  // drop_front<list<T, U>> == list<U>
template <type_list A> requires(!empty<A>)
using drop_back = /* ... */;   // drop_back<list<T, U>> == list<T>
template <type_list A> requires(!empty<A>)
using front = /* ... */;       // front<list<T, U>> == T
template <type_list A> requires(!empty<A>)
using back = /* ... */;        // back<list<T, U>> == U

template <type_list A, std::size_t Index>
requires(Index < size<A>)
using get = /* ... */;      // get<list<T, U, V>, 1> == U
template <type_list A, std::size_t Index, std::size_t Size = npos>
requires(Index <= size<A>)
using sublist = /* ... */;  // sublist<list<T, U, V, W>, 1, 2> == list<U, V>
                            // sublist<list<T, U, V, W>, 1> == list<U, V, W>
template <type_list A, std::size_t Index, std::size_t Size = npos>
requires(Index <= size<A>)
using erase = /* ... */;    // erase<list<T, U, V, W>, 1, 2> == list<T, W>
                            // erase<list<T, U, V, W>, 1> == list<T>
template <type_list A, std::size_t... Indices>
requires((Indices < size<A>) && ...)
using select = /* ... */;   // select<list<T, U, V, W>, 3, 0, 1> == list<W, T, U>

template <type_list A, template <typename....> typename Template>
using to = /* ... */;       // to<list<T, U, V>, F> = F<T, U, V>

Algorithms

template <template <typename...> typename F, typename... Ts>
using apply = /* ... */;

Works with both nested-typedef-style metafunctions and alias-style metafunctions. i.e. sfn::apply<F, Ts...> is F<Ts...>::type if the member type type present, F<Ts...> otherwise.

template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename P>
inline constexpr bool all_of = /* ... */;
template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename P>
inline constexpr bool any_of = /* ... */;
template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename P>
inline constexpr bool none_of = /* ... */;

template <type_list A, typename T>
inline constexpr std::size_t find = /* ... */;
template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename P>
inline constexpr std::size_t find_if = /* ... */;
template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename P>
inline constexpr std::size_t find_if_not = /* ... */;

template <type_list A, typename T>
inline constexpr std::size_t count = /* ... */;
template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename P>
inline constexpr std::size_t count_if = /* ... */;

template <type_list A, typename T>
using remove = /* ... */;
template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename P>
using remove_if = /* ... */;

Should feel familiar to users of <algorithm>. For example:

sfn::all_of<list<int, long, long long>, std::is_integral> is true
sfn::find<list<char, float, int>, float> is 1
sfn::find_if<list<float, double>, std::is_integral> is 2
sfn::count<list<int, float, long>, std::is_integral> is 2
sfn::remove<list<int, float, long, float>, float> is list<int, long>
sfn::remove_if<list<float, int, double>, std::is_integral> is list<float, double>

template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename P>
using filter = /* ... */;
template <type_list A, template <typename...> typename F>
using map = /* ... */;

sfn::filter is really just the opposite of sfn::remove_if.

sfn::map calls sfn::apply on each element of the list, for example:

sfn::map<list<const int, int, const float>, std::remove_const> is list<int, int, float>
sfn::map<list<int, float>, std::vector> is list<std::vector<int>, std::vector<float>>

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 36 Commits
include/sfn		include/sfn
test		test
.bazelrc		.bazelrc
.clang-format		.clang-format
.gitignore		.gitignore
BUILD.bazel		BUILD.bazel
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
WORKSPACE		WORKSPACE
format.sh		format.sh

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static_functional

Motivating example 1

Motivating example 2

Why?

Setup

Compiler support

Troubleshooting

Contents

<sfn/functional.h>

Basics

`sfn::unwrap`

Example

`sfn::sequence`

Example

`sfn::cast`

Example

`sfn::reinterpret`

Example

`sfn::bind_front` and `sfn::bind_back`

Example

`sfn::compose_front` and `sfn::compose_back`

Example

Notes

Overhead

Move-only types and perfect forwarding

`noexcept` wrappers

`constexpr` functions

<sfn/type_list.h>

`sfn::list`

Basic operations

Algorithms

About

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Languages

License

grandseiken/static-functional

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Repository files navigation

static_functional

Motivating example 1

Motivating example 2

Why?

Setup

Compiler support

Troubleshooting

Contents

<sfn/functional.h>

Basics

sfn::unwrap

Example

sfn::sequence

Example

sfn::cast

Example

sfn::reinterpret

Example

sfn::bind_front and sfn::bind_back

Example

sfn::compose_front and sfn::compose_back

Example

Notes

Overhead

Move-only types and perfect forwarding

noexcept wrappers

constexpr functions

<sfn/type_list.h>

sfn::list

Basic operations

Algorithms

About

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`sfn::unwrap`

`sfn::sequence`

`sfn::cast`

`sfn::reinterpret`

`sfn::bind_front` and `sfn::bind_back`

`sfn::compose_front` and `sfn::compose_back`

`noexcept` wrappers

`constexpr` functions

`sfn::list`

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