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external/entt/entt/docs/md/poly.md
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# Crash Course: poly
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<!--
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@cond TURN_OFF_DOXYGEN
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-->
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# Table of Contents
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* [Introduction](#introduction)
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* [Other libraries](#other-libraries)
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* [Concept and implementation](#concept-and-implementation)
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* [Deduced interface](#deduced-interface)
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* [Defined interface](#defined-interface)
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* [Fulfill a concept](#fulfill-a-concept)
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* [Inheritance](#inheritance)
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* [Static polymorphism in the wild](#static-polymorphism-in-the-wild)
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* [Storage size and alignment requirement](#storage-size-and-alignment-requirement)
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<!--
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@endcond TURN_OFF_DOXYGEN
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-->
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# Introduction
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Static polymorphism is a very powerful tool in C++, albeit sometimes cumbersome
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to obtain.<br/>
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This module aims to make it simple and easy to use.
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The library allows to define _concepts_ as interfaces to fulfill with concrete
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classes without having to inherit from a common base.<br/>
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This is, among others, one of the advantages of static polymorphism in general
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and of a generic wrapper like that offered by the `poly` class template in
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particular.<br/>
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What users get is an object that can be passed around as such and not through a
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reference or a pointer, as happens when it comes to working with dynamic
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polymorphism.
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Since the `poly` class template makes use of `entt::any` internally, it also
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supports most of its feature. Among the most important, the possibility to
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create aliases to existing and thus unmanaged objects. This allows users to
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exploit the static polymorphism while maintaining ownership of objects.<br/>
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Likewise, the `poly` class template also benefits from the small buffer
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optimization offered by the `entt::any` class and therefore minimizes the number
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of allocations, avoiding them altogether where possible.
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## Other libraries
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There are some very interesting libraries regarding static polymorphism.<br/>
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Among all, the two that I prefer are:
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* [`dyno`](https://github.com/ldionne/dyno): runtime polymorphism done right.
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* [`Poly`](https://github.com/facebook/folly/blob/master/folly/docs/Poly.md):
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a class template that makes it easy to define a type-erasing polymorphic
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object wrapper.
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The former is admittedly an experimental library, with many interesting ideas.
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I've some doubts about the usefulness of some feature in real world projects,
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but perhaps my lack of experience comes into play here. In my opinion, its only
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flaw is the API which I find slightly more cumbersome than other solutions.<br/>
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The latter was undoubtedly a source of inspiration for this module, although I
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opted for different choices in the implementation of both the final API and some
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feature.
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Either way, the authors are gurus of the C++ community, people I only have to
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learn from.
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# Concept and implementation
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The first thing to do to create a _type-erasing polymorphic object wrapper_ (to
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use the terminology introduced by Eric Niebler) is to define a _concept_ that
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types will have to adhere to.<br/>
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For this purpose, the library offers a single class that supports both deduced
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and fully defined interfaces. Although having interfaces deduced automatically
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is convenient and allows users to write less code in most cases, this has some
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limitations and it's therefore useful to be able to get around the deduction by
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providing a custom definition for the static virtual table.
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Once the interface is defined, it will be sufficient to provide a generic
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implementation to fulfill the concept.<br/>
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Also in this case, the library allows customizations based on types or families
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of types, so as to be able to go beyond the generic case where necessary.
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## Deduced interface
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This is how a concept with a deduced interface is introduced:
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```cpp
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struct Drawable: entt::type_list<> {
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template<typename Base>
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struct type: Base {
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void draw() { this->template invoke<0>(*this); }
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};
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// ...
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};
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```
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It's recognizable by the fact that it inherits from an empty type list.<br/>
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Functions can also be const, accept any number of parameters and return a type
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other than `void`:
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```cpp
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struct Drawable: entt::type_list<> {
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template<typename Base>
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struct type: Base {
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bool draw(int pt) const { return this->template invoke<0>(*this, pt); }
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};
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// ...
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};
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```
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In this case, all parameters must be passed to `invoke` after the reference to
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`this` and the return value is whatever the internal call returns.<br/>
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As for `invoke`, this is a name that is injected into the _concept_ through
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`Base`, from which one must necessarily inherit. Since it's also a dependent
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name, the `this-> template` form is unfortunately necessary due to the rules of
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the language. However, there exists also an alternative that goes through an
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external call:
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```cpp
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struct Drawable: entt::type_list<> {
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template<typename Base>
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struct type: Base {
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void draw() const { entt::poly_call<0>(*this); }
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};
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// ...
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};
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```
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Once the _concept_ is defined, users must provide a generic implementation of it
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in order to tell the system how any type can satisfy its requirements. This is
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done via an alias template within the concept itself.<br/>
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The index passed as a template parameter to either `invoke` or `poly_call`
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refers to how this alias is defined.
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## Defined interface
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A fully defined concept is no different to one for which the interface is
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deduced, with the only difference that the list of types is not empty this time:
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```cpp
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struct Drawable: entt::type_list<void()> {
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template<typename Base>
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struct type: Base {
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void draw() { entt::poly_call<0>(*this); }
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};
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// ...
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};
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```
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Again, parameters and return values other than `void` are allowed. Also, the
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function type must be const when the method to bind to it is const:
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```cpp
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struct Drawable: entt::type_list<bool(int) const> {
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template<typename Base>
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struct type: Base {
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bool draw(int pt) const { return entt::poly_call<0>(*this, pt); }
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};
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// ...
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};
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```
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Why should a user fully define a concept if the function types are the same as
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the deduced ones?<br>
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Because, in fact, this is exactly the limitation that can be worked around by
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manually defining the static virtual table.
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When things are deduced, there is an implicit constraint.<br/>
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If the concept exposes a member function called `draw` with function type
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`void()`, a concept can be satisfied:
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* Either by a class that exposes a member function with the same name and the
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same signature.
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* Or through a lambda that makes use of existing member functions from the
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interface itself.
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In other words, it's not possible to make use of functions not belonging to the
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interface, even if they are present in the types that fulfill the concept.<br/>
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Similarly, it's not possible to deduce a function in the static virtual table
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with a function type different from that of the associated member function in
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the interface itself.
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Explicitly defining a static virtual table suppresses the deduction step and
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allows maximum flexibility when providing the implementation for a concept.
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## Fulfill a concept
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The `impl` alias template of a concept is used to define how it's fulfilled:
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```cpp
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struct Drawable: entt::type_list<> {
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// ...
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template<typename Type>
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using impl = entt::value_list<&Type::draw>;
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};
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```
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In this case, it's stated that the `draw` method of a generic type will be
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enough to satisfy the requirements of the `Drawable` concept.<br/>
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Both member functions and free functions are supported to fulfill concepts:
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```cpp
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template<typename Type>
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void print(Type &self) { self.print(); }
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struct Drawable: entt::type_list<void()> {
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// ...
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template<typename Type>
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using impl = entt::value_list<&print<Type>>;
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};
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```
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Likewise, as long as the parameter types and return type support conversions to
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and from those of the function type referenced in the static virtual table, the
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actual implementation may differ in its function type since it's erased
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internally.<br/>
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Moreover, the `self` parameter isn't strictly required by the system and can be
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left out for free functions if not required.
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Refer to the inline documentation for more details.
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# Inheritance
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_Concept inheritance_ is straightforward due to how poly looks like in `EnTT`.
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Therefore, it's quite easy to build hierarchies of concepts if necessary.<br/>
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The only constraint is that all concepts in a hierarchy must belong to the same
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_family_, that is, they must be either all deduced or all defined.
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For a deduced concept, inheritance is achieved in a few steps:
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```cpp
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struct DrawableAndErasable: entt::type_list<> {
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template<typename Base>
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struct type: typename Drawable::template type<Base> {
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static constexpr auto base = std::tuple_size_v<typename entt::poly_vtable<Drawable>::type>;
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void erase() { entt::poly_call<base + 0>(*this); }
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};
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template<typename Type>
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using impl = entt::value_list_cat_t<
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typename Drawable::impl<Type>,
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entt::value_list<&Type::erase>
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>;
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};
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```
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The static virtual table is empty and must remain so.<br/>
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On the other hand, `type` no longer inherits from `Base` and instead forwards
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its template parameter to the type exposed by the _base class_. Internally, the
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size of the static virtual table of the base class is used as an offset for the
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local indexes.<br/>
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Finally, by means of the `value_list_cat_t` utility, the implementation consists
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in appending the new functions to the previous list.
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As for a defined concept instead, also the list of types must be extended, in a
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similar way to what is shown for the implementation of the above concept.<br/>
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To do this, it's useful to declare a function that allows to convert a _concept_
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into its underlying `type_list` object:
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```cpp
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template<typename... Type>
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entt::type_list<Type...> as_type_list(const entt::type_list<Type...> &);
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```
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The definition isn't strictly required, since the function will only be used
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through a `decltype` as it follows:
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```cpp
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struct DrawableAndErasable: entt::type_list_cat_t<
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decltype(as_type_list(std::declval<Drawable>())),
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entt::type_list<void()>
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> {
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// ...
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};
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```
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Similar to above, `type_list_cat_t` is used to concatenate the underlying static
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virtual table with the new function types.<br/>
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Everything else is the same as already shown instead.
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# Static polymorphism in the wild
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Once the _concept_ and implementation have been introduced, it will be possible
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to use the `poly` class template to contain instances that meet the
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requirements:
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```cpp
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using drawable = entt::poly<Drawable>;
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struct circle {
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void draw() { /* ... */ }
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};
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struct square {
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void draw() { /* ... */ }
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};
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// ...
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drawable instance{circle{}};
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instance->draw();
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instance = square{};
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instance->draw();
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```
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The `poly` class template offers a wide range of constructors, from the default
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one (which will return an uninitialized `poly` object) to the copy and move
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constructors, as well as the ability to create objects in-place.<br/>
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Among others, there is also a constructor that allows users to wrap unmanaged
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objects in a `poly` instance (either const or non-const ones):
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```cpp
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circle shape;
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drawable instance{std::in_place_type<circle &>, shape};
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```
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Similarly, it's possible to create non-owning copies of `poly` from an existing
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object:
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```cpp
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drawable other = instance.as_ref();
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```
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In both cases, although the interface of the `poly` object doesn't change, it
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won't construct any element or take care of destroying the referenced objects.
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Note also how the underlying concept is accessed via a call to `operator->` and
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not directly as `instance.draw()`.<br/>
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This allows users to decouple the API of the wrapper from that of the concept.
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Therefore, where `instance.data()` will invoke the `data` member function of the
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poly object, `instance->data()` will map directly to the functionality exposed
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by the underlying concept.
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# Storage size and alignment requirement
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Under the hood, the `poly` class template makes use of `entt::any`. Therefore,
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it can take advantage of the possibility of defining at compile-time the size of
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the storage suitable for the small buffer optimization as well as the alignment
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requirements:
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```cpp
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entt::basic_poly<Drawable, sizeof(double[4]), alignof(double[4])>
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```
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The default size is `sizeof(double[2])`, which seems like a good compromise
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between a buffer that is too large and one unable to hold anything larger than
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an integer. The alignment requirement is optional instead and by default such
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that it's the most stringent (the largest) for any object whose size is at most
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equal to the one provided.<br/>
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It's worth noting that providing a size of 0 (which is an accepted value in all
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respects) will force the system to dynamically allocate the contained objects in
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all cases.
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