expression templates - bad_alloc - c++

Question

i am currently working on a c++ project and now i am stuck already for a while. It's about delayed evaluation with expression templates and (for me at least) a strange bad_alloc.
If you try the code below, you'll notice runtime error bad_alloc due to the very last addition b+c. So thats the point where the delayed evaluation is done. Furthermore the code below compiles and runs fine if you remove the references of the members of "Expression" (left,right). But i need references there, due to performance, etc. . However i also dont see, why i cant use references there.
I've already spent a lot of time with it. Please let me know if somebody can help me.
Best Regards.
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
template<typename value_t, typename left_t, typename right_t, typename op_t>
class Expression
{
public:
typedef value_t value_type;
explicit Expression(const left_t &left,
const right_t &right,
const op_t &op) :
left(left),
right(right),
op(op)
{
}
value_t operator [](const size_t &i) const
{
return op(left[i],right[i]);
}
size_t size() const { return left.size();}
private:
const left_t &left;
const right_t &right;
//const left_t left;
//const right_t right;
const op_t &op;
};
template<class left_t,
class right_t,
class value_t = typename left_t::value_type,
class op_t = std::plus<value_t>>
const Expression<value_t, left_t, right_t, op_t> operator +(const left_t &left,
const right_t &right)
{
return Expression<value_t,left_t,right_t,op_t>(left, right, op_t());
}
template<typename value_t, typename data_t = std::vector<value_t>>
class Vector : public data_t
{
public:
typedef value_t value_type;
using data_t::size;
Vector(const std::initializer_list<value_t> &list) :
data_t(list)
{
}
Vector(const size_t &n) :
data_t(n)
{
}
Vector(const Vector &v) :
data_t(v)
{
}
template<typename left_t, typename right_t, typename op_t>
Vector(const Expression<value_t,left_t,right_t,op_t> &v) :
data_t(v.size())
{
operator =(v);
}
template<typename vec_t>
Vector(const vec_t &v) :
data_t(v.size())
{
operator =(v);
}
template<typename vec_t>
Vector &operator =(const vec_t &v)
{
for(size_t i = 0; i < data_t::size(); ++i)
data_t::operator [](i) = v[i];
return (*this);
}
friend std::ostream &operator <<(std::ostream &os, const Vector &v)
{
if(v.size())
os << v[0];
for(size_t i = 1; i < v.size(); ++i)
os << " " << v[i];
return os;
}
};
int main()
{
Vector<double> a{0,1,2};
auto b = a+a+a;
auto c = a;
std::cout << a+a+a+a << std::endl;
std::cout << b+c << std::endl; // gives bad_alloc
return 0;
}

Answer 1

"But i need references there, due to performance, etc."
Prove it.
In expression templates, all¹ the information should be compile-time.
You can see my example here for a simple expression template:
// we have lazy placeholder types:
template <int N> struct placeholder {};
placeholder<1> _1;
placeholder<2> _2;
placeholder<3> _3;
// note that every type here is stateless, and acts just like a more
// complicated placeholder.
// We can have expressions, like binary addition:
template <typename L, typename R> struct addition { };
template <typename L, typename R> struct multiplication { };
// here is the "factory" for our expression template:
template <typename L, typename R> addition<L,R> operator+(L const&, R const&) { return {}; }
template <typename L, typename R> multiplication<L,R> operator*(L const&, R const&) { return {}; }
///////////////////////////////////////////////
// To evaluate/interpret the expressions, we have to define "evaluation" for each type of placeholder:
template <typename Ctx, int N>
auto eval(Ctx& ctx, placeholder<N>) { return ctx.arg(N); }
template <typename Ctx, typename L, typename R>
auto eval(Ctx& ctx, addition<L, R>) { return eval(ctx, L{}) + eval(ctx, R{}); }
template <typename Ctx, typename L, typename R>
auto eval(Ctx& ctx, multiplication<L, R>) { return eval(ctx, L{}) * eval(ctx, R{}); }
///////////////////////////////////////////////
// A simple real-life context would contain the arguments:
#include <vector>
struct Context {
std::vector<double> _args;
// define the operation to get an argument from this context:
double arg(int i) const { return _args.at(i-1); }
};
#include <iostream>
int main() {
auto foo = _1 + _2 + _3;
Context ctx { { 3, 10, -4 } };
std::cout << "foo: " << eval(ctx, foo) << "\n";
std::cout << "_1 + _2 * _3: " << eval(ctx, _1 + _2 * _3) << "\n";
}
So what you need is a literal type that holds a reference to the associated value, and defer all other evaluation to evaluation time.
I might prefer to add the size() operation as a free function, so that you don't have to encumber all the expression types with it (Separation Of Concerns).
¹ nearly, nl. except when encoding literals
Proof Of Concept
Using the strategy outlined:
Live On Coliru
#include <iostream>
#include <tuple>
namespace ETL {
template <typename T>
struct Literal {
T value;
T get() const { return value; }
};
/*
*template <typename T>
* static inline std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, ETL::Literal<T> const& lit) {
* return os << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << "\n actual: lit.value = " << lit.value;
* }
*/
template <class L, class R, class Op>
struct BinaryExpr : std::tuple<L, R, Op> { // tuple optimizes for empty element types
BinaryExpr(L l, R r, Op op)
: std::tuple<L, R, Op> { l, r, op }
{}
L const& get_lhs() const { return std::get<0>(*this); }
R const& get_rhs() const { return std::get<1>(*this); }
Op const& get_op() const { return std::get<2>(*this); }
};
template <class L, class R, class Op> auto cured(BinaryExpr<L,R,Op> _) { return _; }
template <class T> auto cured(Literal<T> l) { return std::move(l); }
template <class T> Literal<T> cured(T&& v) { return {std::forward<T>(v)}; }
template <class Op, class L, class R>
BinaryExpr<L, R, Op> make_binexpr(L&& l, R&& r) { return { std::forward<L>(l), std::forward<R>(r), Op{} }; }
template <class L, class R> auto operator +(L&& l, R&& r)
{ return make_binexpr<std::plus<>>(cured(std::forward<L>(l)), cured(std::forward<R>(r))); }
template <class L, class R> auto operator -(L&& l, R&& r)
{ return make_binexpr<std::minus<>>(cured(std::forward<L>(l)), cured(std::forward<R>(r))); }
template <class L, class R> auto operator *(L&& l, R&& r)
{ return make_binexpr<std::multiplies<>>(cured(std::forward<L>(l)), cured(std::forward<R>(r))); }
template <class L, class R> auto operator /(L&& l, R&& r)
{ return make_binexpr<std::divides<>>(cured(std::forward<L>(l)), cured(std::forward<R>(r))); }
template <class L, class R> auto operator %(L&& l, R&& r)
{ return make_binexpr<std::modulus<>>(cured(std::forward<L>(l)), std::forward<R>(r)); }
template <typename T> auto val(T const& v)
{ return cured(v); }
namespace impl {
template <class T>
static constexpr auto is_indexable(T const&) -> decltype(std::declval<T const&>()[0], std::true_type{}) { return {}; }
static constexpr auto is_indexable(...) -> decltype(std::false_type{}) { return {}; }
struct {
template <class T> size_t operator()(T const& v) const { return (*this)(v, is_indexable(v)); }
template <class T> size_t operator()(T const& v, std::true_type) const { return v.size(); }
template <class T> size_t operator()(T const&, std::false_type) const { return 0; }
template <class T> size_t operator()(Literal<T> const& l) const { return (*this)(l.value); }
template <class L, class R, class Op>
size_t operator()(BinaryExpr<L,R,Op> const& be) const { return (*this)(be.get_lhs()); }
} size;
struct {
template <class T>
auto operator()(size_t i, T const& v) const { return (*this)(i, v, is_indexable(v)); }
template <class T>
auto operator()(size_t i, T const& v, std::true_type) const { return v[i]; }
template <class T>
auto operator()(size_t, T const& v, std::false_type) const { return v; }
template <class T> auto operator()(size_t i, Literal<T> const& l) const { return (*this)(i, l.value); }
template <class L, class R, class Op>
auto operator()(size_t i, BinaryExpr<L,R,Op> const& be) const {
return be.get_op()((*this)(i, be.get_lhs()), (*this)(i, be.get_rhs()));
}
} eval_at;
}
template <typename T> size_t size(T const& v) { return impl::size(v); }
template <typename T> auto eval_at(size_t i, T const& v) { return impl::eval_at(i, v); }
}
#include <vector>
template <class value_t>
struct Vector : std::vector<value_t> {
using data_t = std::vector<value_t>;
typedef value_t value_type;
using data_t::data_t;
template <typename Expr>
Vector(Expr const& expr) { *this = expr; }
template <typename Expr>
Vector& operator=(Expr const& expr) {
this->resize(size(expr));
for (size_t i = 0; i < this->size(); ++i)
this->at(i) = eval_at(i, expr);
return *this;
}
friend std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, const Vector &v) {
for (auto& el : v) os << " " << el;
return os;
}
};
int main() {
Vector<double> a { 1, 2, 3 };
using ETL::operator+;
using ETL::operator*;
//std::cout << typeid(a + a * 4 / 2).name() << "\n";
#define DD(x) std::cout << typeid(x).name() << " size: " << ETL::size(x) << " result:" << (x) << "\n"
DD(a * -100.0);
auto b = a + a + a;
auto c = a;
std::cout << size(b) << "\n";
std::cout << (a + a + a + a) << "\n";
std::cout << a * 4.0 << "\n";
std::cout << b + c << "\n";
std::cout << (a + a + a + a) - 4 * a << "\n";
}
Prints
ETL::BinaryExpr<ETL::Literal<Vector<double>&>, ETL::Literal<double>, std::multiplies<void> > size: 3 result: -100 -200 -300
3
4 8 12
4 8 12
4 8 12
0 0 0