constexpr

Constant Expressions

You can define, with the keyword constexpr, an expression that can be evaluated at compile-time. constexpr can be used for variables, functions, and user-defined types. An expression that is evaluated at compile-time has a lot of advantages. A constant expression

• can be evaluated at compile-time.
• gives the compiler deep insight into the code.
• is implicitly thread-safe.

constexpr - Variables and Objects

If you declare a variable as constexpr, the compiler will evaluate them at compile-time. This holds not only true for built-in types but also for instantiations of user-defined types. There are a few serious restrictions for objects in order to evaluate them at compile-time.

To make life easier for us, we will call the C types like bool, char, int, and double primitive data types. We will call the remaining data types as user-defined data types. These are for example, std::string, types from the C++ library and non-primitive data types. Non-primitive data types typically hold primitive data types.

Variables

By using the keyword constexpr, the variable becomes a constant expression.

constexpr double pi= 3.14;

Therefore, we can use the variable in contexts that require a constant expression. For example, if we want to define the size of an array. This has to be done at compile-time.

For the declaration of a constexpr variable, you have to keep a few rules in mind.

The variable:

• is implicitly const.
• has to be initialized.
• requires a constant expression for initialization.

The above rules make sense because if we evaluate a variable at compile-time, the variable can only depend on values that can be evaluated at compile time.

The objects are created by the invocation of the constructor and the constructor has a few special rules as well.

User-Defined Types

A constexpr constructor

1. can only be invoked with constant expressions.
2. cannot use exception handling.
3. has to be declared as default or delete or the function body must be empty (C++11).

The constexpr user-defined type

• cannot have virtual base classes.
• requires that each base object and each non-static member has to be initialized in the initialization list of the constructor or directly in the class body. Consequently, it holds that each used constructor (e.g of a base class) has to be a constexpr constructor and that the applied initializers have to be constant expressions.

Example

struct MyDouble{
  double myVal;
  constexpr MyDouble(double v): myVal(v){} 
  constexpr double getVal(){return myVal;}
};

• The constructor has to be empty and a constant expression.
• The user-defined type can have methods which are constant expressions and cannot to be virtual.
• Instances of MyDouble can be instantiated at compile-time.

Functions

constexpr functions are functions that have the potential to run at compile-time. With constexpr functions, you can perform a lot of calculations at compile-time. Therefore, the result of the calculation is available at runtime and stored as a constant in the ROM available. In addition, constexpr functions are implicitly inline.

A constexr function can be invoked with a non-constexpr value. In this case, the function runs at runtime. A constexpr function is executed at compile-time when it is used in an expression which is evaluated at compile-time. Some examples would be when using a static_assert or the definition of a C-array. A constexpr function is also executed at compile-time, when the result is requested at compile-time, for example: constexpr auto res = constexprFunction().

For constexpr functions there are a few restrictions:

The function

• has to be non-virtual.

• has to have arguments and a return value of a literal type. Literal types are the types of constexpr variables.

• can only have one return statement.

• must return a value.

• will be executed at compile-time if invoked within a constant expression.

• can only have a function body consisting of a return statement.

• must have a constant return value

• is implicitly inline.

Examples

constexpr int fac(int n){
   return n > 0 ? n * fac(n-1): 1;
}

constexpr int gcd(int a, int b){
  return (b==0) ? a : gcd(b, a % b);
}

Functions with C++14

The syntax of constexpr functions was massively improved with the change from C++11 to C++14. In C++11, you had to keep in mind which feature you can use in a constexpr functions. With C++14, you only have to keep in mind which feature you can’t use in a constexpr function.

constexpr Functions in C++14

• can have variables that have to be initialized by a constant expression.
• cannot have static or thread_local data.
• can have conditional jump instructions or loop instructions.
• can have more than one instruction.

Example