Stack overflow in Metaprogramming - c++11

I am reading the book "Advance Metaprogramming in classic C++"! on page 16 the author has provide an example:
struct base
{
base() {}
template <typename T>
base(T x) {}
};
struct derived : base
{
derived() {}
derived(const derived& that)
: base(that) {}
};
void main()
{
derived d1;
derived d2 = d1; //stack overflow!! why?!
}
the author says:
"The assignment d2 = d1 causes a stack overflow. An implicit copy constructor must invoke the copy constructor of the base class, so by 12.8(the C++ standard) above it can
never call the universal constructor. Had the compiler generated a copy constructor for derived, it would have called the base copy constructor (which is implicit). Unfortunately, a copy constructor for derived is given, and it contains an explicit function call, namely base(that). Hence, following the usual overload resolution rules, it matches the universal constructor with T=derived. Since this function takes x by value, it needs to perform a copy of that, and hence the call is recursive."
I really didn't get it ! can some one please explain this more!
many thanks!:)

The main issue lies here:
base(T x) {}
The Constructor for base takes x (meaning d1) as value, which causes x to be temporarily copied. Copying x will result in calling the original copy constructor of derived again, namely this one:
derived(const derived& that)
: base(that) {}
This constructor itself will call the first one (base(T x)) again an so on, ergo you get a stack overflow caused by recursive constructor calling.

Related

When does c++ right value destruct in this scenario?

Here is the code:
class SomeType {
public:
SomeType() {}
~SomeType() {}
std::string xxx;
}
bool funtion_ab() {
SomeType(); // This is a right val;
// The right val destructs here when I test the code. I want to make sure that it would always destructs here.
int a = 0, b = 10;
....// other code
return true;
}
Please tell me if you know the truth. Thank you!
What you have is called a temporary object. From §6.7.7,
Temporary objects are created
when a prvalue is converted to an xvalue
or, more specifically,
[Note 3: Temporary objects are materialized:
...
when a prvalue that has type other than cv void appears as a discarded-value expression ([expr.context]).
— end note]
and, on the lifetime, the same section has this to say
Temporary objects are destroyed as the last step in evaluating the full-expression ([intro.execution]) that (lexically) contains the point where they were created.
You can read more about the expression semantics, but in your case "full-expression" is fairly unambiguous.
SomeType();
The "full-expression" containing your constructor call is... the constructor call itself. So the destructor will be called immediately after evaluating the constructor. There are some exceptions to this rule (such as if the temporary object is thrown as an exception or is bound as a reference), but none of those apply here.
As noted in the comments, compilers are free to inline your constructor and destructor calls and then are free to notice that they do nothing and omit them entirely. Optimizers can do fun stuff with your code, provided it doesn't change the semantics. But a strict reading of the standard states that the destructor is called exactly where you suggested.

c++11: how to understand the function move

I can't understand the function move in c++11.
From here, I got things below:
Although note that -in the standard library- moving implies that the
moved-from object is left in a valid but unspecified state. Which
means that, after such an operation, the value of the moved-from
object should only be destroyed or assigned a new value; accessing it
otherwise yields an unspecified value.
In my opinion, after move(), the moved-from object has been "clear". However, I've done a test below:
std::string str = "abcd";
std::move(str);
std::cout<<str;
I got abcd on my screen.
So has the str been destroyed? If so, I could get abcd because I'm just lucky? Or I misunderstood the function move?
Besides, when I read C++ Primer, I got such a code:
class Base{/* ... */};
class D: public Base{
public:
D(D&& d): Base(std::move(d)){/* use d to initialize the members of D */}
};
I'm confused now. If the function move will clear the object, the parameter d will be clear, how could we "use d to initialize the members of D"?
std::move doesn't actually do anything. It's roughly analogous to a cast expression, in that the return value is the original object, but treated differently.
More precisely, std::move returns the object in a form which is amenable to its resources being 'stolen' for some other purpose. The original object remains valid, more or less (you're only supposed to do certain special things to it, though that's primarily a matter of convention and not necessarily applicable to non-standard-library objects), but the stolen-away resources no longer belong to it, and generally won't be referenced by it any more.
But! std::move doesn't, itself, do the stealing. It just sets things up for stealing to be allowed. Since you're not doing anything with the result, let alone something which could take advantage of the opportunity, nothing gets stolen.
std::move doesn’t move anything. std::move is merely a function template that perform casts. std::move unconditionally casts its argument to an rvalue,
std::move(str);
With this expression you are just doing type cast from lvalue to rvalue.
small modification in program to understand better.
std::string str = "abcd";
std::string str1 = std::move(str);
std::cout<<str<<std::endl;
std::cout<<str1<<std::endl;
str lvalue typecast to rvalue by std::move, std::string = std::move(str); =>this expression call the string move constructor where actual stealing of resources take placed. str resources(abcd) are steeled and printed empty string.
Here is sample implementation of move function. Please note that it is not complete implementation of standard library.
template<typename T> // C++14; still in
decltype(auto) move(T&& param) // namespace std
{
using ReturnType = remove_reference_t<T>&&;
return static_cast<ReturnType>(param);
}
Applying std::move to an object tells the compiler that the object is eligible to be moved from. It cast to the rvalue.
class Base{/* ... */};
class D: public Base{
public:
D(D&& d): Base(std::move(d)){/* use d to initialize the members of D */}
};
Base(std::move(d)) it will do up-casting only move the base class part only.
Here one more interesting thing to learn for you. If you do not invoke base class destructor with std::move like D(D&& d): Base(d) then d will be considered as lvalue and copy constructor of Base class involved instead of move constructor. Refer for more detail Move constructor on derived object

Expected Moves vs Copies

It is my understanding that move semantics can use move-constructors to elide what would otherwise be a copy. For example, a function returning a (perhaps) large data structure can now return by value, and the move constructor will be used to avoid a copy.
My question is this: is the compiler required to not copy when this is possible? It doesn't seem to be the case. In that case, wouldn't the following code have "implementation-defined" semantics?
static const int INVALID_HANDLE = 0xFFFFFFFF;
class HandleHolder {
int m_handle;
public:
explicit HandleHolder(int handle) : m_handle(handle) {}
HandleHolder(HandleHolder& hh) {
m_handle = hh.m_handle;
}
HandleHolder(HandleHolder&& hh) : m_handle(INVALID_HANDLE) {
swap(m_handle, hh.m_handle);
}
~HandleHolder() noexcept {
if (m_handle != INVALID_HANDLE) {
destroy_the_handle_object(m_handle);
}
}
};
Say then we make a function:
HandleHolder make_hh(int handle) { return HandleHolder(handle); }
Which constructor is called? I would expect the move constructor, but am I guaranteed the move constructor?
I'm aware this is a silly example and that -- for example -- the copy constructor of this object should be deleted because there is no way to use it safely otherwise, but the semantics are simple enough that I wouldn't think something like this would be implementation-defined.
Yes, of course. There's nothing implementation-defined about it.
If there is a move constructor and it can be used, and it is a choice between a move constructor and a copy constructor, the move constructor will be invoked. That is a guarantee.
[C++11: 13.3.3.2/3]: [..] Standard conversion sequence S1 is a better conversion sequence than standard conversion sequence S2 if:
[..]
S1 and S2 are reference bindings (8.5.3) and neither refers to an implicit object parameter of a non-static member function declared without a ref-qualifier, and S1 binds an rvalue reference to an rvalue and S2 binds an lvalue reference.
[..]
I think your confusion stems from misuse of the term "elide". The compiler may elide copies/moves and replace them with nothingness — with in-place construction that bypasses the invocation of a constructor altogether. Copy elision never results in a move, and move elision never results in a copy. Either the object "transferral" happens or it does not.
You could sort of argue that your program has "implementation-defined" semantics in the sense that you don't know whether copies/moves will be elided until the program has been compiled, and because such elision is allowed to modify side-effects (such as console output). But we don't tend to think of it that way.
Regardless, this does not affect which of the copy and move constructors will be invoked if either are to be.
Your example is further flawed because only your move constructor can be invoked: your copy constructor takes a ref-to-non-const which can't be bound through an rvalue initialiser.

Move constructor not getting called? (C++11)

In the following example, why doesn't the move constructor get called in the construction of 'copy' inside fun, even though the 'src' argument of 'fun' is explicitly a rvalue reference and is only used in that construction?
struct Toy {
int data;
Toy(): data(0)
{
log("Constructed");
}
Toy(Toy const& src): data(src.data)
{
log("Copy-constructed");
}
Toy(Toy&& src): data(src.data)
{
log("Move-constructed");
}
};
Toy fun(Toy&& src)
{
Toy copy(src);
copy.data = 777;
return copy;
}
Toy toy(fun(Toy())); // LOG: Constructed Copy-constructed
While Bob && b is an rvalue reference, all named use of data after construction is using it as an lvalue.
So Bob&& b will only bind to rvalues, but when you use it it will not move.
The only ways to get an rvalue reference are:
A value without a name, such as a temporary return value or result of a cast.
Use of a local value variable in a simple return x; statement.
Explicitly casting to an rvalue, such as with std::move or std::forward.
This prevents data from being silently moved from on one line and then used on the next. It can help to think of rvalue as being 'I the programmer say this is not needed after this expression' at use, and 'only take things that are not needed afterwards' in function parameters. The temporary/return exceptions above are two spots the compiler can relatively safely guarantee this itself.
Finally, note that universal references (auto&& and T&&) look like rvalue references but sometimes are not.

Perfect forwarding in this case

I am currently reading about perfect forwarding and it states that the purpose of perfect forwarding is to pass lvalues as lvalues and rvalues as rvalues. So I am using the following example to understand perfect forwarding . The foo object here has has a copy and move cnstr and it also has a copy and move assignment operator.
void mfoo(foo arg)
{
.......
}
template<typename T>
void relay(T&& arg)
{
mfoo(std::forward<T>(arg));
}
//Start here
foo f;
relay(std::move(f));
Now I am testing this code in VS2012 and the move constructor is called only once . I was expecting it to be called twice. I would appreciate it if someone could explain this to me.
I expected the first move constructor to be called at relay and the next move constructor to be called at mfoo
//Start here
foo f; // default-initialize `f`, call the default constructor
relay(std::move(f));
std::move(f) does the same as static_cast<foo&&>(f), so it actually doesn't "do" anything; it merely produces an rvalue expression ("f is treated as an rvalue").
relay( std::move(f) ) instantiates void relay<foo>(foo&& arg) and calls this function. The parameter is a reference and reference-compatible with the argument, hence no constructor is called.
mfoo(std::forward<T>(arg))
std::forward<T>(arg) yields arg as an lvalue if T is an lvalue reference, or as an rvalue if T is not an lvalue reference. I.e., for T == foo&&, it does the same as std::move(arg). No constructor is called.
mfoo(..) finally calls mfoo, which takes its argument by value. This causes a copy or move, depending on the type and the value category of the argument expression.
As our argument expression here is an rvalue, the move constructor will be called (if existent and accessible).

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