C++ Metaprogramming Tricks: Optimizing Variant Access Performance
This article explores optimizing `std::variant` access performance in C++ using metaprogramming techniques, aiming for efficiency comparable to hand-written `switch` statements. Several approaches are compared, including jump tables, dispatch tables, macros, recursive `switch`, and short-circuiting folds, analyzing their pros, cons, and compiler optimization strategies. Ultimately, a solution combining short-circuiting folds and the anticipated C++26 expansion statements is presented, achieving efficient generic access and avoiding performance bottlenecks.
Read more