When to use typedef?
- by futlib
I'm a bit confused about if and when I should use typedef in C++. I feel it's a balancing act between readability and clarity.
Here's a code sample without any typedefs:
int sum(std::vector<int>::const_iterator first,
std::vector<int>::const_iterator last)
{
static std::map<std::tuple<std::vector<int>::const_iterator,
std::vector<int>::const_iterator>,
int> lookup_table;
std::map<std::tuple<std::vector<int>::const_iterator,
std::vector<int>::const_iterator>, int>::iterator lookup_it =
lookup_table.find(lookup_key);
if (lookup_it != lookup_table.end())
return lookup_it->second;
...
}
Pretty ugly IMO. So I'll add some typedefs within the function to make it look nicer:
int sum(std::vector<int>::const_iterator first,
std::vector<int>::const_iterator last)
{
typedef std::tuple<std::vector<int>::const_iterator,
std::vector<int>::const_iterator> Lookup_key;
typedef std::map<Lookup_key, int> Lookup_table;
static Lookup_table lookup_table;
Lookup_table::iterator lookup_it = lookup_table.find(lookup_key);
if (lookup_it != lookup_table.end())
return lookup_it->second;
...
}
The code is still a bit clumsy, but I get rid of most nightmare material. But there's still the int vector iterators, this variant gets rid of those:
typedef std::vector<int>::const_iterator Input_iterator;
int sum(Input_iterator first, Input_iterator last)
{
typedef std::tuple<Input_iterator, Input_iterator> Lookup_key;
typedef std::map<Lookup_key, int> Lookup_table;
static Lookup_table lookup_table;
Lookup_table::iterator lookup_it = lookup_table.find(lookup_key);
if (lookup_it != lookup_table.end())
return lookup_it->second;
...
}
This looks clean, but is it still readable?
When should I use a typedef? As soon as I have a nightmare type? As soon as it occurs more than once? Where should I put them? Should I use them in function signatures or keep them to the implementation?
