How to properly rewrite with templates this C++ code that uses inheritance - c++

Question

I have a C++ code that currently looks like this: there is a class hierarchy to do perform some comparison and a list class that uses it. Which comparison operation to use is determined at runtime based on some schema object. Here is the structure:
class A{
bool doComparison(const string& s1, const string& s2) const=0;
}
class B: public A{
bool doComparison(const string& s1, const string& s2) const {
...
}
}
class C: public A{
bool doComparison(const string& s1, const string& s2) const {
...
}
}
template <class, S>
public FancyList{
shared_ptr<A> z_;
vector<S> v;
FancyList(shared_ptr<A> z) : z_(z);
void DoSmth(){
....
z_->doComparison(arg1, arg2);
}
}
typedef FancyList<string> FancyStringList;
// Determine which comparison to use at runtime
shared_ptr<A> c = nullptr;
switch(type):
case int:
c = make_shared<B>();
break;
case double:
c = make_shared<B>();
break;
FancyStringList l(c);
l.push_back("stuff");
C# used to be my main language so this code seemed ok to me. But I was told that the problem with this approach is that it uses virtual functions so there is a slight overhead in a method call. What is the proper C++-way of reorganizing this code so there is no need to have this class hierarchy and no need to use virtual functions?

Answer 1

Contrary to what you want, the overhead of virtual function is unavoidable because the decision of which actual function is called is made in runtime.
If the decision is always made in runtime, the compiler cannot hard-code the function call into the generated machine code. It has to be a indirect function call: to use a pointer to point to a function, and to dereference the pointer before the function call. Virtual function is just one way to do indirect function call.
Template is a way tell the compiler to generate code during compile-time. All template can do is to not introduce overhead when the decision is made during compile-time. It can't help you remove works that must be done in runtime.
If you are still interested in using template, you may consider having the comparator as a template parameter.
template <class T, class Comparator>
class MyList
{
std::vector<T> vec;
Comparator comp;
public:
void do_thing(const T& a, const T& b)
{
vec.push_back(a);
vec.push_back(b);
bool x = comp(vec[0], vec[1]); // for example
std::cout << x;
}
};
In the comparator class, overload the function call operator.
class Compare1
{
public:
bool operator()(const std::string& lhs, const std::string& rhs) const
{
return lhs < rhs;
}
};
class Compare2
{
public:
bool operator()(const std::string& lhs, const std::string& rhs) const
{
return lhs.size() < rhs.size();
}
};
int main()
{
MyList<std::string, Compare1> myli1;
myli1.do_thing("a", "b");
MyList<std::string, Compare2> myli2;
myli2.do_thing("c", "d");
}
You can even hide indirect function call behind comparator class. But it does not remove the overhead.
class A
{
public:
virtual bool doComparison(const std::string& s1, const std::string& s2) const=0;
virtual ~A() = default;
};
class PolymorphicComparator
{
private:
std::shared_ptr<A> comp;
public:
PolymorphicComp(std::shared_ptr<A> c) : comp(c) {}
bool operator()(const std::string& lhs, const std::string& rhs) const
{
return comp->doComparison(lhs, rhs);
}
};