Empty policies: [[no_unique_address]] and EBO

On my previous post about C++ Policies, a policy-based design was used for comparators and loggers, which are stateless function objects (they only call a single function). These types are empty, but as members they still occupy space because C++ guarantees distinct addresses for distinct subobjects. With C++20’s [[no_unique_address]] or Empty Base Optimization (EBO), programmers can make these truly zero-cost, which is huge for small, hot objects like iterators or adapters.1 ...

November 14, 2025 · 3 min · Hannupekka Sormunen

Policies

I’ve been reading about templates a lot lately and kept seeing the word policy. Which made me realized I wanted a single post that answers the question: What is a policy? Why do C++ sources keep mentioning them? How do compile-time policies (templates) compare to runtime strategies (virtuals/std::function)? And when should which be used? ...

November 14, 2025 · 5 min · Hannupekka Sormunen

Concepts

Introduction C++20 shipped with Concepts, a long-awaited way to express constraints on template parameters right where they live. Concepts turn the old “SFINAE and traits soup” into clear, readable predicates that the compiler can check for you. Anyone who has wrestled with a 20-line enable_if just to say “this needs to be integral” will appreciate this. ...

November 6, 2025 · 3 min · Hannupekka Sormunen

Canonical Project Structure

If you’ve ever stared at a blank folder wondering where do I even start?, you’re not alone. I’ve been there more than once. ...

September 21, 2025 · 3 min · Hannupekka Sormunen