diff --git a/src/catch2/internal/catch_decomposer.hpp b/src/catch2/internal/catch_decomposer.hpp index d4c7b243..e693bf57 100644 --- a/src/catch2/internal/catch_decomposer.hpp +++ b/src/catch2/internal/catch_decomposer.hpp @@ -18,6 +18,86 @@ #include #include +/** \file + * Why does decomposing look the way it does: + * + * Conceptually, decomposing is simple. We change `REQUIRE( a == b )` into + * `Decomposer{} <= a == b`, so that `Decomposer{} <= a` is evaluated first, + * and our custom operator is used for `a == b`, because `a` is transformed + * into `ExprLhs` and then into `BinaryExpr`. + * + * In practice, decomposing ends up a mess, because we have to support + * various fun things. + * + * 1) Types that are only comparable with literal 0, and they do this by + * comparing against a magic type with pointer constructor and deleted + * other constructors. Example: `REQUIRE((a <=> b) == 0)` in libstdc++ + * + * 2) Types that are only comparable with literal 0, and they do this by + * comparing against a magic type with consteval integer constructor. + * Example: `REQUIRE((a <=> b) == 0)` in current MSVC STL. + * + * 3) Types that have no linkage, and so we cannot form a reference to + * them. Example: some implementations of traits. + * + * 4) Starting with C++20, when the compiler sees `a == b`, it also uses + * `b == a` when constructing the overload set. For us this means that + * when the compiler handles `ExprLhs == b`, it also tries to resolve + * the overload set for `b == ExprLhs`. + * + * To accomodate these use cases, decomposer ended up rather complex. + * + * 1) These types are handled by adding SFINAE overloads to our comparison + * operators, checking whether `T == U` are comparable with the given + * operator, and if not, whether T (or U) are comparable with literal 0. + * If yes, the overload compares T (or U) with 0 literal inline in the + * definition. + * + * Note that for extra correctness, we check that the other type is + * either an `int` (literal 0 is captured as `int` by templates), or + * a `long` (some platforms use 0L for `NULL` and we want to support + * that for pointer comparisons). + * + * 2) For these types, `is_foo_comparable` is true, but letting + * them fall into the overload that actually does `T == int` causes + * compilation error. Handling them requires that the decomposition + * is `constexpr`, so that P2564R3 applies and the `consteval` from + * their accompanying magic type is propagated through the `constexpr` + * call stack. + * + * However this is not enough to handle these types automatically, + * because our default is to capture types by reference, to avoid + * runtime copies. While these references cannot become dangling, + * they outlive the constexpr context and thus the default capture + * path cannot be actually constexpr. + * + * The solution is to capture these types by value, by explicitly + * specializing `Catch::capture_by_value` for them. Catch2 provides + * specialization for `std::foo_ordering`s, but users can specialize + * the trait for their own types as well. + * + * 3) If a type has no linkage, we also cannot capture it by reference. + * The solution is once again to capture them by value. We handle + * the common cases by using `std::is_arithmetic` as the default + * for `Catch::capture_by_value`, but that is only a some-effort + * heuristic. But as with 2), users can specialize `capture_by_value` + * for their own types as needed. + * + * 4) To support C++20 and make the SFINAE on our decomposing operators + * work, the SFINAE has to happen in return type, rather than in + * a template type. This is due to our use of logical type traits + * (`conjunction`/`disjunction`/`negation`), that we use to workaround + * an issue in older (9-) versions of GCC. I still blame C++20 for + * this, because without the comparison order switching, the logical + * traits could still be used in template type. + * + * There are also other side concerns, e.g. supporting both `REQUIRE(a)` + * and `REQUIRE(a == b)`, or making `REQUIRE_THAT(a, IsEqual(b))` slot + * nicely into the same expression handling logic, but these are rather + * straightforward and add only a bit of complexity (e.g. common base + * class for decomposed expressions). + */ + #ifdef _MSC_VER #pragma warning(push) #pragma warning(disable:4389) // '==' : signed/unsigned mismatch