Concepts: Typeclasses for C++?

I’ve had a hypothesis for a while that C++ templates (paired at times with ADL) are an ad-hoc, unsound version of typeclasses. I’ve seen this hold for parser combinators, range base algorithms, and more. I’m also not the first to draw this comparison[1]. Concepts are supposed to bring soundness in through constrained templates. Concepts look awfully …

Return-code vs. Exception handling

(Originally authored Feb 2008.  This is a revision of an older post from before I began blogging on the internet at large.  It’s been edited for style, not content) This is one of those “religous wars” in programming language theory; return code handling (RCH) vs exception handling (EH).  Firstly, I am biased.  Secondly, I will …

CLOS circa 1987, Dynamic Dispatch in C++/C#

As reported by programming musings, http://www.archive.org/details/DanielGB1987 Common Lisp Object Standard presentation, by Daniel G Bobrow. Some reflections: Fast Multiple Dispatch "[for dynamic method resolution] A cache of 1000 entries is hit 98% of the time".  Assuming this is accurate, it explains how you could get by with the cached virtual dispatch lookup that the desktop …