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15<td><h2>Safe Numerics</h2></td>
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21<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
22<a name="safe_numerics.eliminate_runtime_penalty.2"></a>Using <a class="link" href="safe_range.html" title="safe_signed_range&lt;MIN, MAX, PP, EP&gt; and safe_unsigned_range&lt;MIN, MAX, PP, EP&gt;">safe_range</a>
23    and <a class="link" href="safe_literal.html" title="safe_signed_literal&lt;Value, PP , EP&gt; and safe_unsigned_literal&lt;Value, PP, EP&gt;">safe_literal</a>
24</h3></div></div></div>
25<p>When trying to avoid arithmetic errors of the above type,
26    programmers will select data types which are wide enough to hold values
27    large enough to be certain that results won't overflow, but are not so
28    large as to make the program needlessly inefficient. In the example below,
29    we presume we know that the values we want to work with fall in the range
30    [-24,82]. So we "know" the program will always result in a correct result.
31    But since we trust no one, and since the program could change and the
32    expressions be replaced with other ones, we'll still use the <a class="link" href="exception_policies.html#safe_numerics.exception_policies.loose_trap_policy"><code class="computeroutput">loose_trap_policy</code></a>
33    exception policy to verify at compile time that what we "know" to be true
34    is in fact true.</p>
35<pre class="programlisting"><span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">iostream</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
36
37<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">safe_numerics</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">safe_integer_range</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
38<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">safe_numerics</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">safe_integer_literal</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
39<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">safe_numerics</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">exception</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
40<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">safe_numerics</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">native</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
41<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="string">"safe_format.hpp"</span> <span class="comment">// prints out range and value of any type</span>
42
43<span class="keyword">using</span> <span class="keyword">namespace</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">safe_numerics</span><span class="special">;</span>
44
45<span class="comment">// create a type for holding small integers in a specific range</span>
46<span class="keyword">using</span> <span class="identifier">safe_t</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">safe_signed_range</span><span class="special">&lt;</span>
47    <span class="special">-</span><span class="number">24</span><span class="special">,</span>
48    <span class="number">82</span><span class="special">,</span>
49    <span class="identifier">native</span><span class="special">,</span>           <span class="comment">// C++ type promotion rules work OK for this example</span>
50    <span class="identifier">loose_trap_policy</span> <span class="comment">// catch problems at compile time</span>
51<span class="special">&gt;</span><span class="special">;</span>
52
53<span class="comment">// create a type to hold one specific value</span>
54<span class="keyword">template</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">I</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
55<span class="keyword">using</span> <span class="identifier">const_safe_t</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">safe_signed_literal</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">I</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">native</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">loose_trap_policy</span><span class="special">&gt;</span><span class="special">;</span>
56
57<span class="comment">// We "know" that C++ type promotion rules will work such that</span>
58<span class="comment">// addition will never overflow. If we change the program to break this,</span>
59<span class="comment">// the usage of the loose_trap_policy promotion policy will prevent compilation.</span>
60<span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">main</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <span class="keyword">char</span> <span class="special">*</span><span class="special">[</span><span class="special">]</span><span class="special">)</span><span class="special">{</span>
61    <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="string">"example 83:\n"</span><span class="special">;</span>
62
63    <span class="keyword">constexpr</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <span class="identifier">const_safe_t</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="number">10</span><span class="special">&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">x</span><span class="special">;</span>
64    <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="string">"x = "</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="identifier">safe_format</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">x</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">endl</span><span class="special">;</span>
65    <span class="keyword">constexpr</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <span class="identifier">const_safe_t</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="number">67</span><span class="special">&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">;</span>
66    <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="string">"y = "</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="identifier">safe_format</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">endl</span><span class="special">;</span>
67    <span class="keyword">const</span> <span class="identifier">safe_t</span> <span class="identifier">z</span> <span class="special">=</span> <span class="identifier">x</span> <span class="special">+</span> <span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">;</span>
68    <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="string">"x + y = "</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="identifier">safe_format</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">x</span> <span class="special">+</span> <span class="identifier">y</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">endl</span><span class="special">;</span>
69    <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="string">"z = "</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="identifier">safe_format</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">z</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">&lt;&lt;</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">endl</span><span class="special">;</span>
70    <span class="keyword">return</span> <span class="number">0</span><span class="special">;</span>
71<span class="special">}</span>
72</pre>
73<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; ">
74<li class="listitem"><p><code class="computeroutput"><code class="computeroutput">safe_signed_range</code></code> defines a type
75          which is limited to the indicated range. Out of range assignments
76          will be detected at compile time if possible (as in this case) or at
77          run time if necessary.</p></li>
78<li class="listitem"><p>A safe range could be defined with the same minimum and
79          maximum value effectively restricting the type to holding one
80          specific value. This is what <code class="computeroutput">safe_signed_literal</code>
81          does.</p></li>
82<li class="listitem"><p>Defining constants with <code class="computeroutput">safe_signed_literal</code>
83          enables the library to correctly anticipate the correct range of the
84          results of arithmetic expressions at compile time.</p></li>
85<li class="listitem"><p>The usage of <code class="computeroutput"><a class="link" href="exception_policies.html#safe_numerics.exception_policies.loose_trap_policy"><code class="computeroutput">loose_trap_policy</code></a></code>
86          will mean that any assignment to z which could be outside its legal
87          range will result in a compile time error.</p></li>
88<li class="listitem"><p>All safe integer operations are implemented as constant
89          expressions. The usage of <code class="computeroutput">constexpr</code> will guarantee that
90          <code class="computeroutput">z</code> will be available at compile time for any subsequent
91          use.</p></li>
92<li class="listitem"><p>So if this program compiles, it's guaranteed to return a valid
93          result.</p></li>
94</ul></div>
95<p>The output uses a custom output manipulator,
96    <code class="computeroutput">safe_format</code>, for safe types to display the underlying type
97    and its range as well as current value. This program produces the
98    following run time output.</p>
99<pre class="screen">example 83:
100x = &lt;signed char&gt;[10,10] = 10
101y = &lt;signed char&gt;[67,67] = 67
102x + y = &lt;int&gt;[77,77] = 77
103z = &lt;signed char&gt;[-24,82] = 77</pre>
104<p>Take note of the various variable types:</p>
105<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; ">
106<li class="listitem"><p><code class="computeroutput">x</code> and <code class="computeroutput">y</code> are safe types with fixed
107          ranges which encompass one single value. They can hold only that
108          value which they have been assigned at compile time.</p></li>
109<li class="listitem"><p><code class="computeroutput">The sum x + y can also be determined at compile
110          time.</code></p></li>
111<li class="listitem"><p>The type of z is defined so that It can hold only values in
112          the closed range -24,82. We can assign the sum of x + y because it
113          is in the range that <code class="computeroutput">z</code> is guaranteed to hold. If the
114          sum could not be be guaranteed to fall in the range of
115          <code class="computeroutput">z</code>, we would get a compile time error due to the fact we
116          are using the <code class="computeroutput">loose_trap_policy</code> exception
117          policy.</p></li>
118</ul></div>
119<p>All this information regarding the range and values of
120    variables has been determined at compile time. There is no runtime
121    overhead. The usage of safe types does not alter the calculations or
122    results in anyway. So <code class="computeroutput">safe_t</code> and <code class="computeroutput">const_safe_t</code>
123    could be redefined to <code class="computeroutput">int</code> and <code class="computeroutput">const int</code>
124    respectively and the program would operate identically - although it might
125    We could compile the program for another machine - as is common when
126    building embedded systems and know (assuming the target machine
127    architecture was the same as our native one) that no erroneous results
128    would ever be produced.</p>
129</div>
130<table xmlns:rev="http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~gregod/boost/tools/doc/revision" width="100%"><tr>
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132<td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright &#169; 2012-2018 Robert Ramey<p><a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">Subject to Boost
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