C++ Template Metaprogramming sheds light on the most powerful idioms of today's C++, at long last delivering practical metaprogramming tools and techniques into the hands of the everyday programmer.
Since the introduction of templates, C++ programmers have discovered surprising and powerful ways to perform computation at compile-time. While the excitement generated by these capabilities among C++ experts has reached the community at large, their practical application remains out-of-reach for many programmers. Literature on C++ template metaprogramming has focused primarily on details of low-level "tricks" at the expense of strong idioms and abstractions, and without illuminating the path from metaprogramming to expressive interfaces and efficient, maintainable software.
This book delivers both "big picture" ideas and practical tools. It explains what metaprogramming is, why it matters, and how the unique combination of features in C++ make it an especially powerful language for metaprogramming. It also presents the Boost Metaprogramming Library, a powerful open source framework of high-level compile-time components based on familiar STL idioms, which makes C++ metaprogramming easy, expressive, and fun.