Lesson plan

Expression templates

Expression templates are a C++ template metaprogramming technique that builds structures representing a computation at compile time, where expressions are evaluated only as needed to produce efficient code for the entire computation. Expression templates thus allow programmers to bypass the normal order of evaluation of the C++ language and achieve optimizations such as loop fusion. Expression templates were invented independently by Todd Veldhuizen and David Vandevoorde; it was Veldhuizen who gave them their name. They are a popular technique for the implementation of linear algebra software.

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Article summary

Expression templates are a C++ template metaprogramming technique that builds structures representing a computation at compile time, where expressions are evaluated only as needed to produce efficient code for the entire computation. Expression templates thus allow programmers to bypass the normal order of evaluation of the C++ language and achieve optimizations such as loop fusion. Expression templates were invented independently by Todd Veldhuizen and David Vandevoorde; it was Veldhuizen who gave them their name. They are a popular technique for the implementation of linear algebra software.

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  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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