Is it possible to check if const value is known at compile time?

Question

Currently I am rewriting/extending my C++ utility library taking new C++11 features into account. One of the new additions is a template class which gives the maximum value of a set of numbers, hopefully at compile time.

template<typename T, T... Xs> class ConstMax
{
private:
    template<typename... Ts> static constexpr T Max(Ts... xs);

    template<typename Tx> static constexpr T Max(Tx x)
    {
        return x;
    }

    template<typename T1, typename T2, typename... Ts> static constexpr T Max(T1 x, T2 y, Ts... xs)
    {
        return y > x ? Max<T2, Ts...>(y, xs...) : Max<T1, Ts...>(x, xs...);
    }

public:
    static const T Value = Max(Xs...);
};

An example use of this class:

int max = ConstMax<int, 1, 8, 66, 32, 90, 12, 33>::Value;

Here another example which might make it harder to verify if ConstMax<...>::Value was actually evaluated during compile time:

template<typename... Ts> class Variant
{
public:
    static const size_t MaxValueSize = ConstMax<size_t, sizeof(Ts)...>::Value;
};

Which results in max = 90 . I stepped trough this code using gdb and it seems there is no function call executed during the assignment of max.

My questions:

1. Can I safely assume that ConstMax<...>::Value is always known at compile time?
2. Is there a way to check if constexpr functions/methods are evaluated at compile time?
3. I understand members/methods/functions defined as constexpr are not necessarily evaluated during compile time, does the fact that Value is defined as being static const change anything about this or am I better off implementing this specific case as a recursive template class?

Answer 1

To check if an expression is constexpr (ie, constant expression) you could use std::integral_constant type trait as follows:

#include <iostream>
#include <type_traits>

template<typename T, T... Xs> class ConstMax {
  template<typename... Ts> static constexpr T Max(Ts... xs);
  template<typename Tx> static constexpr T Max(Tx x) { return x;}
  template<typename T1, typename T2, typename... Ts>
  static constexpr T
  Max(T1 x, T2 y, Ts... xs) {
        return y > x ? Max<T2, Ts...>(y, xs...) : Max<T1, Ts...>(x, xs...);
  }
public:
    static const T Value = Max(Xs...);
};

int main() {
 std::cout << std::integral_constant<int, ConstMax<int, 1, 8, 66, 32, 90, 12, 33>::Value>::value << std::endl;   
}

Live Demo

If it's not constexpr it will break the compilation process.

Answer 2

1. Can I safely assume that ConstMax<...>::Value is always known at compile time?

Yes, since it's initialized with a constant expression. But I'd modify Value to be constexpr instead of just const .

2. Is there a way to check if constexpr functions/methods are evaluated at compile time?

Yes. Try using them in a constexpr expression. If it works, they're being evaluated at compile time. If it fails to compile, then it's not being evaluated at compile time.

3. I understand members/methods/functions defined as constexpr are not necessarily evaluated during compile time, does the fact that Value is defined as being static const change anything about this or am I better off implementing this specific case as a recursive template class?

If you use the members in a constant expression, you're forcing them to be evaluated at compile time. So if you cared, I'd just make sure to evaluate them in constant expressions (via constexpr ).