How is std::tuple implemented?

Question

I\'d like to know how are tuple implemented in standard library for C++0x. I tried to read description in libstdc++ manual and then read template listing, but it\'s really hard

Answer 1

A tuple is typically implemented as a compile time linked-list.

The code is a bit obfuscated through template-syntax, but following elements are normally present:

1. a chain of classes with head and tail elements (cons-elements)
2. an empty tail instance to indicate the end of the list.
3. recursive code to walk the list to a certain index, implemented as recursive template-instantiations (instantiated at compile time).

There exist reasonable implementations in C++03 (e.g. boost).

Variadic templates allow an unlimited number of elements, as mentioned by Motti.

The cost is normally a compile time-one. Copy constructors might be called during initialization (max 1), and when copying the tuples themselves.

Answer 2

One approach to implementing tuples is using multiple-inheritance. The tuple-elements are held by leaf-classes, and the tuple class itself inherits from multiple leafs. In pseudo-code:

template<typename T0, typename T1, ..., typename Tn>
class PseudoTuple : TupleLeaf<0, T0>, TupleLeaf<1, T1>, ..., TupleLeaf<n, Tn> {
   ...
};

Each leaf has an index, so that each base-class becomes unique even if the types they contain are identical, so we can access the nth element with a simple static_cast:

static_cast<TupleLeaf<0, T0>*>(this);
// ...
static_cast<TupleLeaf<n, Tn>*>(this);

I've written up a detailed explanation about this "flat" tuple implementation here: C++11 tuple implementation details (Part 1)

Answer 3

I thought I would add a non-pseudocode simple recursive implementation for reference

#include <iostream>

// Contains the actual value for one item in the tuple. The 
// template parameter `i` allows the
// `Get` function to find the value in O(1) time
template<std::size_t i, typename Item>
struct TupleLeaf {
    Item value;
};

// TupleImpl is a proxy for the final class that has an extra 
// template parameter `i`.
template<std::size_t i, typename... Items>
struct TupleImpl;

// Base case: empty tuple
template<std::size_t i>
struct TupleImpl<i>{};

// Recursive specialization
template<std::size_t i, typename HeadItem, typename... TailItems>
struct TupleImpl<i, HeadItem, TailItems...> :
    public TupleLeaf<i, HeadItem>, // This adds a `value` member of type HeadItem
    public TupleImpl<i + 1, TailItems...> // This recurses
    {};

// Obtain a reference to i-th item in a tuple
template<std::size_t i, typename HeadItem, typename... TailItems>
HeadItem& Get(TupleImpl<i, HeadItem, TailItems...>& tuple) {
    // Fully qualified name for the member, to find the right one 
    // (they are all called `value`).
    return tuple.TupleLeaf<i, HeadItem>::value;
}

// Templated alias to avoid having to specify `i = 0`
template<typename... Items>
using Tuple = TupleImpl<0, Items...>;

int main(int argc, char** argv) {
    Tuple<int, float, std::string> tuple;
    Get<0>(tuple) = 5;
    Get<1>(tuple) = 8.3;
    Get<2>(tuple) = "Foo";
    std::cout << Get<0>(tuple) << std::endl;
    std::cout << Get<1>(tuple) << std::endl;
    std::cout << Get<2>(tuple) << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Answer 4

Implementing std::tuple is possible via variadic templates, that were introduced into the core language.

I know this is begging the question but it gives you a better search phrase to research.