Taking a Byte Out of C++ - Avoiding Punning by Starting Lifetimes - Robert Leahy - CppCon 2022

Explore the power of C++'s type system to start lifetimes explicitly, avoiding undefined behavior and writing safer, more expressive code with concepts, functions, and wrappers.

Key takeaways

The C++ type system is powerful, but starts of lifetime are not explicitly declared.
Concepts can be used to define and enforce well-defined behavior.
Lifetime of an array of bytes starts the lifetime of an array of bytes.
C++ programmers often implicitly start lifetimes without realizing it.
The start_lifetime concept can be used to provide explicit lifetime management.
The type system can be used as a lens to look at buffers of bytes.
The updateAs function can be used to start the lifetime of an array of bytes.
The type system can be used to ensure correctness and avoid undefined behavior.
The C++ standard provides two ways to end the storage duration of an object.
Constructors can bring objects into existence with invariance established.
Lifetimes have implicitly begun in storage before the constructor has completed execution.
The as_ implicit concept can be used to define a sequence of values.
The start_lifetime concept can be used to start the lifetime of a trivially constructible type.
The validate function can be used to ensure that an object is in a valid state.
The type system can be used to write safer code and avoid undefined behavior.
The start_lifetime concept can be used to provide a way to start the lifetime of an object.
The _expected wrapper can be used to provide a way to handle errors.
The type system can be used to write more expressive code.
The start_lifetime concept can be used to provide a way to start the lifetime of an object in a way that is safe and efficient.
The validate function can be used to ensure that an object is in a valid state before using it.

Taking a Byte Out of C++ - Avoiding Punning by Starting Lifetimes - Robert Leahy - CppCon 2022

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