#p2996
14 posts tagged #p2996.
Define your own function colors: compile-time caller checks with C++26 reflection
C++ already enforces function colors -- consteval, CUDA's __device__, Clang's [[clang::nonblocking]] -- but every one of them needed a compiler change. C++26's std::meta::current_function() (P3795R1) lets a callee reflect on its caller at compile time, so you can paint your own colors as a 20-line library: audio-thread safety, capability tokens, or architectural layers that refuse to compile when called from the wrong place. Here is the pattern, three professional uses, and exactly where it breaks.
Reflection + annotations for hashing: opt out of fields, not whole structs
Krystian Piekos's May 29 post on infotraining.pl shows the cleanest demo so far of P3394 annotations combined with P2996 reflection: opt structs into hashing with [[=hashable]], and opt individual fields out with [[=skipped_for_hash]]. The Hashable concept and the calculate_hash walker fit in 40 lines. No macros.
The fastest JVM is the C++26 compiler
Koen Samyn's BeCPP talk used std::meta::substitute to transform Java bytecode into executable C++ at compile time. The compiler constant-folds the entire program. The loop doesn't run faster. It doesn't exist. This is reflection used not for serialization or enum-to-string, but as a compile-time metaprogramming substrate for building language interpreters.
simdjson meets reflection: sb << my_struct at 6.8 GB/s
simdjson now ships a C++26 reflection backend: define SIMDJSON_STATIC_REFLECTION, and sb << my_struct serializes any aggregate at SIMD speed. The CITM Catalog benchmark hits 6.8 GB/s. Combined with P3394 annotations for rename/skip, this is the production JSON path the reflection series has been building toward.
The hidden cost of <meta> -- and the three-line fix
Vittorio Romeo measured what C++26 reflection actually costs: the <meta> header adds ~181ms per TU on GCC 16.1, but the reflection algorithm itself is ~0.07ms per enumerator. The header is 2500x more expensive than the logic. A three-line CMake PCH stanza cuts the header cost by 2.3x. Modules, surprisingly, make it worse.
The five most useful things C++26 reflection unlocks (in effort order)
C++26 reflection looks like it requires a PhD in template metaprogramming. It does not. Five concrete projects you can build with it, ranked from five minutes to weeks. Use this as a triage when picking your first reflection-powered project.
Is std::vector consteval or constexpr? A reader's question, answered
A colleague asked: 'Is std::vector consteval and not constexpr?' Short answer: no, but the intuition is right. Long answer: the constexpr/consteval/constinit trio, the transient-allocation rule, and why std::define_static_array exists.
Reflection in the wild: April 2026 in five links
Five things happened to C++26 reflection in April 2026: GCC 16.1, Glaze v7.2, a Revzin write-up, a Lemire/Thiesen JSON talk, and one honest list of what is still not shipping.
Glaze v7.2 vs your hand-rolled JSON: a 30-line benchmark
Glaze v7.2 ships a P2996 backend that retires __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, lifts the 128-member cap, and serializes private members. Here is when you still write your own thirty lines -- and when one call wins.
GCC 16.1 ships C++26 reflection -- your 30-line hands-on
GCC 16.1 dropped on 30 April 2026 with -freflection. C++26 was finalized at Croydon five weeks earlier. Here is a 25-line program you can compile and run today on your laptop.
C++26 is done -- five weeks since Croydon, here's what shipped
Five weeks ago WG21 voted C++26 to publication in Croydon. The dust has settled enough to take stock of what landed, what compiles today, and what it means for the wro.cpp reflection series.
Splicing: [: r :] and putting reflections back into code
Splicing is the inverse of ^^: it takes a std::meta::info and drops the referred entity back into your source. Types, expressions, template arguments, member accesses — all round-trippable.
Your first ^^: reflecting types and walking members
Hands-on introduction to C++26 reflection: the ^^ operator, std::meta::info, and walking struct members. We take the post-1 teaser apart and rebuild it from primitives.
C++26 Reflection: What changes, and why it matters
Part 1 of the C++26 reflection series. A 40-line JSON serializer nobody could write in C++ before 2026 — plus the strategic story of why static reflection changes the ecosystem.