A polyglot's guide to multiple-dispatch
4 days ago
- #programming
- #multiple-dispatch
- #C++
- Introduction to multiple dispatch as an advanced abstraction technique in programming languages.
- Explanation of single dispatch vs. multiple dispatch, with examples in C++.
- Demonstration of a failed attempt to implement multiple dispatch in C++ using overloading.
- Presentation of the visitor pattern as a solution for multiple dispatch in C++.
- Discussion on symmetry and base-class defaults in multiple dispatch implementations.
- Critique of the visitor-based approach for being intrusive and hard to maintain.
- Introduction of a brute-force approach using dynamic_cast for multiple dispatch.
- Mention of Andrei Alexandrescu's work on automating multiple dispatch with templates.
- Overview of Bjarne Stroustrup's proposal for language-level support of multiple dispatch in C++.
- Conclusion highlighting the trade-offs of different multiple dispatch solutions in C++ and teaser for future articles on other languages.