Table of Contents

We’re in the third day of the lambda week. So far, you’ve learned basic syntax and how to capture things. Another important aspect is that lambdas can also be used in the “generic” scenarios. This is especially possible since C++14 where we got generic lambdas (auto arguments), and then in C++20, you can even specify a template lambda!

The Series  

This blog post is a part of the series on lambdas:

Auto Return Type Deduction  

The first crucial part of lambdas that allows you to use them in a “generic” context is the return type deduction.

Even since C++11 (although in a simplified form initially) you could write:

auto lam = [](int x) { return x * 1.1; }

And don’t bother with the return type. The compiler can deduce double in the above case.

In C++14, we even got auto return type for all functions, so they share the common logic with lambdas.

Such a feature is necessary when you want to call your lambda in templated code when specifying the return type might be tricky.

Generic Lambdas in C++14  

The early specification of Lambdas allowed us to create anonymous functional objects and pass them to various generic algorithms from the Standard Library. However, closures were not “generic” on their own. For example, you couldn’t specify a template parameter as a lambda parameter.

Fortunately, since C++14, the Standard introduced Generic Lambdas and now we can write:

const auto foo = [](auto x) { std::cout << x << '\n'; };
foo(10);
foo(10.1234);
foo("hello world");

Please notice auto x as a parameter to the lambda. This is equivalent to using a template declaration in the call operator of the closure type:

struct {
    template<typename T>
    void operator()(T x) const {
        std::cout << x << '\n';
    }
} someInstance;

If there are more auto arguments, then the code expands to separate template parameters:

const auto fooDouble = [](auto x, auto y) { /*...*/ };

Expands into:

struct {
    template<typename T, typename U>
    void operator()(T x, U y) const { /*...*/ }
} someOtherInstance;

Template Lambdas  

With C++14 and generic lambdas, there was no way to change the auto template parameter and use “real” template arguments. With C++20 it’s possible:

For example, how can we restrict our lambda to work only with vectors of some type?

We can write a generic lambda:

auto foo = [](auto& vec) { 
        std::cout<< std::size(vec) << '\n';
        std::cout<< vec.capacity() << '\n';
    };

But if you call it with an int parameter (like foo(10);) then you might get some hard-to-read error:

prog.cc: In instantiation of 
         'main()::<lambda(const auto:1&)> [with auto:1 = int]':
prog.cc:16:11:   required from here
prog.cc:11:30: error: no matching function for call to 'size(const int&)'
               11 | std::cout<< std::size(vec) << '\n';

In C++20 we can write:

auto foo = []<typename T>(std::vector<T> const& vec) {  // <T> syntax!
        std::cout<< std::size(vec) << '\n';
        std::cout<< vec.capacity() << '\n';
    };

The above lambda resolves to a templated call operator:

<typename T>
void operator()(std::vector<T> const& s) { ... }

The template parameter comes after the capture clause [].

If you call it with int (foo(10);) then you get a nicer message:

note:   mismatched types 'const std::vector<T>' and 'int'

Another important aspect is that in the generic lambda example, you only have a variable and not its template type. If you want to access the type, you have to use decltype(x) (for a lambda with (auto x) argument). This makes code more wordy and complicated.

For example:

// C++17
auto ForwardToTestFunc = [](auto&& ...args) {
  // what's the type of `args` ?
  return TestFunc(std::forward<decltype(args)>(args)...);
};

but with template lambdas there’s not need for that:

// C++20:
auto ForwardToTestFunc = []<typename ...T>(T&& ...args) {
  return TestFunc(std::forward<T>(args)...); // we have all the types!
};

As you can see, template lambdas provide cleaner syntax and better access to types of arguments.

Since Lambdas got very similar syntax to regular functions, at least for the argument part, it’s also possible to use concepts! For example in the terse syntax with constrained auto:

auto GenLambda = [](std::signed_integral auto param) { return param * param + 1; };

Back to You  

Do you use lambdas in a generic context? Have you tried template lambdas? Share your experience in comments below the article.

Next Time  

In the next article, you’ll see some tricks with lambdas. See here: Lambda Week: Tricks - C++ Stories.

See More in Lambda Story  

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