Lecture 6 - Functions (Advanced Topics)

This site accompanies ENPM702 - Lecture 6: Functions — Advanced Topics. It organizes the lecture into concise, browsable pages with examples, short exercises, and instructor notes.

Note

Lecture 6 slides (v1.1).

Learning Outcomes

• Use struct idiomatically (aggregate initialization, structured bindings).

• Write generic functions with templates; understand deduction and specialization.

• Apply decltype and trailing return types when return types depend on parameters.

• Use function specifiers: constexpr, inline, noexcept.

• Use attributes: [[nodiscard]], [[maybe_unused]], [[deprecated]].

• Master callables: function pointers, functors, lambdas, and std::function.

Tip

Compile examples with -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic-errors -Werror for strong diagnostics.

Detailed Topics

The following sections explore each topic in Lecture 6:

Lecture 6

• struct
• Templates in Modern C++
  • Templates — Overview
  • Template Syntax & Organization
  • Template Specialization
  • Type Deduction & Failures
• Operators, Specifiers, and Attributes
  • decltype Operator
  • Trailing Return Types
  • Function Attributes
  • constexpr Functions
  • inline and the ODR
  • noexcept Specifier & Operator
• Callables in Modern C++
  • Function Pointers
  • Functors (Function Objects)
  • Lambdas
  • std::function and Type Erasure
• Exercises
• Glossary
• Important Notes
• References