How does std::invoke(C++1z) work? - c++

Question

namespace detail {
template <class F, class... Args>
inline auto INVOKE(F&& f, Args&&... args) ->
decltype(std::forward<F>(f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...)) {
return std::forward<F>(f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
template <class Base, class T, class Derived>
inline auto INVOKE(T Base::*pmd, Derived&& ref) ->
decltype(std::forward<Derived>(ref).*pmd) {
return std::forward<Derived>(ref).*pmd;
}
template <class PMD, class Pointer>
inline auto INVOKE(PMD pmd, Pointer&& ptr) ->
decltype((*std::forward<Pointer>(ptr)).*pmd) {
return (*std::forward<Pointer>(ptr)).*pmd;
}
template <class Base, class T, class Derived, class... Args>
inline auto INVOKE(T Base::*pmf, Derived&& ref, Args&&... args) ->
decltype((std::forward<Derived>(ref).*pmf)(std::forward<Args>(args)...)) {
return (std::forward<Derived>(ref).*pmf)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
template <class PMF, class Pointer, class... Args>
inline auto INVOKE(PMF pmf, Pointer&& ptr, Args&&... args) ->
decltype(((*std::forward<Pointer>(ptr)).*pmf)(std::forward<Args>(args)...)) {
return ((*std::forward<Pointer>(ptr)).*pmf)(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
}
} // namespace detail
template< class F, class... ArgTypes>
decltype(auto) invoke(F&& f, ArgTypes&&... args) {
return detail::INVOKE(std::forward<F>(f), std::forward<ArgTypes>(args)...);
}
I saw the implementation above from here:
http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/functional/invoke
Then I wonder how the compilers match the exact version required. Does SFINAE work on trailing return type?

Answer 1

does SFINAE work on tailing return type?
Yes. The trailing return type syntax doesn't enable any new functionality, it merely makes it easier to write some cases of return types that depend on parameter types.
template <class F, class... Args>
inline auto INVOKE(F&& f, Args&&... args) ->
decltype(std::forward<F>(f)(std::forward<Args>(args)...) { ... }
could have equivalently been written as
template <class F, class... Args>
inline decltype(std::forward<F>(std::declval<F&>())(std::forward<Args>(std::declval<Args&>())...))
INVOKE(F&& f, Args&&... args) { ... }
for instance, and the same for all the others. That could be simplified, but even if you simplify it, the fact that the return type cannot use the same syntax as the return expression makes it hard to follow what's going on. Hence the new syntax.
The only time SFINAE doesn't work is for deduced return types. They also use auto, but it's not the auto keyword by itself that disables SFINAE.