Boost C++ Libraries

Up until now, we've mostly focused on detecting when incorrect results are produced and handling these occurrences either by throwing an exception or invoking some designated function. We've achieved our goal of detecting and handling arithmetically incorrect behavior - but at cost of checking many arithmetic operations at runtime. It is a fact that many C++ programmers will find this trade-off unacceptable. So the question arises as to how we might minimize or eliminate this runtime penalty.

The first step is to determine what parts of a program might invoke exceptions. The following program is similar to previous examples but uses a special exception policy: loose_trap_policy.

#include <iostream>

#include <boost/safe_numerics/safe_integer.hpp>
#include <boost/safe_numerics/exception_policies.hpp> // include exception policies

using safe_t = boost::safe_numerics::safe<
    int,
    boost::safe_numerics::native,
    boost::safe_numerics::loose_trap_policy  // note use of "loose_trap_exception" policy!
>;

int main(int argc, const char * argv[]){
    std::cout << "example 81:\n";
    safe_t x(INT_MAX);
    safe_t y(2);
    safe_t z = x + y; // will fail to compile !
    return 0;
}

Now, any expression which might fail at runtime is flagged with a compile time error. There is no longer any need for try/catch blocks. Since this program does not compile, the library absolutely guarantees that no arithmetic expression will yield incorrect results. Furthermore, it is absolutely guaranteed that no exception will ever be thrown. This is our original goal.

Now all we need to do is make the program compile. There are a couple of ways to achieve this.