@HDembinski I was trying to reproduce the errors caused by clang version changing from 10 to 14 (seems the commit disappered at this noon so do the errors). But following boost/libs/histogram/CONTRIBUTING.md, running tests and examples gives no error, running coverage (the tools/cov.sh does not exist so I ran python3 tools/cov.py) gives an empty coverage-report directory.
If I can not reproduce those errors, something must be wrong in my commands:

on Windows 11 C:/, shift + right_click >> Open Linux Shell Here
(CONTRIBUTING.md https://github.com/boostorg/wiki/wiki/Getting-Started%3A-Overview :)
git clone --recursive https://[email protected]/boostorg/boost.git
cd boost
git checkout develop
./bootstrap.sh
./b2 headers

cd libs/histogram/
git remote add forking_repo https://[email protected]/jhcarl0814/histogram.git
git fetch forking_repo
git checkout -b eytzinger_search forking_repo/eytzinger_search

../../b2 cxxstd=latest warnings-as-errors=on test -j4
../../b2 cxxstd=latest examples -j4

sudo apt install python3-pip
pip install b2filt
PATH="$PATH:/home/eajniah/.local/bin"
b2filt cxxstd=latest warnings-as-errors=on test -j4
b2filt cxxstd=latest examples -j4

(https://stackoverflow.com/questions/62215963/how-to-install-gcc-and-gdb-for-wslwindows-subsytem-for-linux :)
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
sudo apt-get install gcc-8 -y
sudo apt-get install g++-8 -y
../../b2 toolset=gcc-8 cxxstd=latest coverage=on test

I fixed the bugs a few hours ago and rebased this PR that's why the errors disappeared, you can implement your code now.

Do not worry about coverage for now, coverage measurements are flaky. You found the right script, but it is not tested on Windows, so probably does not work. I will update the CONTRIBUTE.md. You also figured out how to install gcc on Windows, very good, but you can also compile with msvc. Only for coverage you need gcc. gcc-8 is known to work, but gcc-12 (I tested yesterday) also works. You need a matching version of gcov (gcov-12) for it to work, this is important if you have several different versions of gcc installed. The script tools/cov.py is not smart enough to pick the matching version of gcov.

b2filt may or may not work on Windows, it is not tested on Windows.

@jhcarl0814 I found a cross-platform implementation of prefetch in Boost.Context (it often pays off to mine Boost code for hidden gems). I added that so that we can experiment with it. On my platform, prefetch does not improve performance.

@HDembinski That's cool! At least the missing part is filled. Maybe there are other scenarios or platforms that will benefit from it, but we don't know yet. We'll see.

@HDembinski Sorry to trouble you, this is my first time to do PR.

The change (has passed b2filt cxxstd=latest warnings-as-errors=on test -j4 and b2filt cxxstd=latest examples -j4) has been pushed to https://github.com/jhcarl0814/histogram/tree/eytzinger_search 's eytzinger_search branch.

The forking_repo's eytzinger_search branch is one commit ahead of https://github.com/boostorg/histogram 's eytzinger_search branch.

Should I git push origin eytzinger_search or git fetch origin develop; git merge develop; git push origin eytzinger_search or ...?

The git remote config is like this:

eajniah@jhcarl0814_1:/mnt/c/boost/libs/histogram$ git branch -a
  develop
* eytzinger_search
  remotes/forking_repo/develop
  remotes/forking_repo/exact_regular
  remotes/forking_repo/experimental_index_transform
  remotes/forking_repo/eytzinger_search
  remotes/forking_repo/fix_clang5
  remotes/forking_repo/fixes_for_latest_compilers
  remotes/forking_repo/master
  remotes/forking_repo/multi_weight
  remotes/forking_repo/remove_internal_span
  remotes/forking_repo/unsafe_access_accumulators
  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/develop
  remotes/origin/develop
  remotes/origin/exact_regular
  remotes/origin/experimental_index_transform
  remotes/origin/eytzinger_search
  remotes/origin/fix_clang5
  remotes/origin/master
  remotes/origin/multi_weight
  remotes/origin/remove_internal_span
  remotes/origin/unsafe_access_accumulators
eajniah@jhcarl0814_1:/mnt/c/boost/libs/histogram$ git remote -v
forking_repo    https://[email protected]/jhcarl0814/histogram.git (fetch)
forking_repo    https://[email protected]/jhcarl0814/histogram.git (push)
origin  https://[email protected]/boostorg/histogram.git (fetch)
origin  https://[email protected]/boostorg/histogram.git (push)

The default layout_and_algorithm is controled by default type template parameter in boost::histogram::axis::
include\boost\histogram\fwd.hpp

struct sorted_array_and_binary_search{};
struct eytzinger_layout_and_eytzinger_binary_search{};
template <class Value = double, class MetaData = use_default, class Options = use_default,
          class Allocator = std::allocator<Value>, class DataStructure = eytzinger_layout_and_eytzinger_binary_search>
class variable;

The actual code of each layout_and_algorithm is in boost::histogram::detail::
include\boost\histogram\detail\eytzinger_search.hpp

template <typename T = double>
struct sorted_array_and_binary_search {...};
template <typename T = double>
struct eytzinger_layout_and_eytzinger_binary_search {...};

There are some other very small problems found when reading the code:

1

boost::histogram::axis::variable replaces boost::use_default type template parameters (with default types) inside class body. The problem is: we get different types, with exactly same behavior.

• Users might find it's not possible to "determine whether two variable have exactly same behavior" by using std::is_same_v<decltype(...),decltype(...)> and have to take on the burden themselves (e.g. add a xxx_traits system).
• The complexity also leaks to complicate those functions that receives boost::histogram::axis::variable (e.g. assignment operators and comparison operators).
• Template deduction deduces to many boost::use_default instead of the more useful actually used types. Debugger shows many boost::use_default instead of the more useful actually used types.

It would be better to let user use a type alias and seldom use the class template name, so the conditional operations can terminate at the type alias and does not propagate further.

namespace boost
{
    namespace histogram
    {
        namespace axis
        {
//            template<class Value = double, class MetaData = use_default, class Options = use_default, class Allocator = std::allocator<Value>, class DataStructure = eytzinger_layout_and_eytzinger_binary_search>
//            using variable_t = boost::histogram::axis::variable<
//              std::conditional_t<std::is_same_v<Value, use_default>, double, Value>,
//              std::conditional_t<std::is_same_v<MetaData, use_default>, std::string, MetaData>,
//              std::conditional_t<std::is_same_v<Options, use_default>, decltype(option::underflow | option::overflow), Options>,
//              std::conditional_t<std::is_same_v<Allocator, use_default>, std::allocator<std::conditional_t<std::is_same_v<Value, use_default>, double, Value>>, Allocator>,
//              std::conditional_t<std::is_same_v<DataStructure, use_default>, eytzinger_layout_and_eytzinger_binary_search, DataStructure>
//              >;
            
            template<class Value = double, class MetaData = use_default, class Options = use_default, class Allocator = std::allocator<Value>, class DataStructure = eytzinger_layout_and_eytzinger_binary_search>
            using variable_t = boost::histogram::axis::variable<
              detail::replace_default<Value,double>,
              detail::replace_default<MetaData,std::string>,
              detail::replace_default<Options,decltype(option::underflow | option::overflow)>,
              detail::replace_default<Allocator,std::allocator<detail::replace_default<Value,double>>>,
              detail::replace_default<DataStructure,eytzinger_layout_and_eytzinger_binary_search>
              >;
        }
    } // namespace histogram
} // namespace boost
static_assert(!std::is_same_v<boost::histogram::axis::variable<double, std::string, boost::use_default>, boost::histogram::axis::variable<double, std::string, decltype(boost::histogram::axis::option::underflow | boost::histogram::axis::option::overflow)>>);
static_assert(std::is_same_v<boost::histogram::axis::variable_t<double, std::string, boost::use_default>, boost::histogram::axis::variable_t<double, std::string, decltype(boost::histogram::axis::option::underflow | boost::histogram::axis::option::overflow)>>);

2

template <class It, class = detail::requires_iterator<It>> variable(It begin, It end, metadata_type meta = {}, options_type options = {}, allocator_type alloc = {}) does not provide strong exception guarantee: if user writes variable(it_begin, it_end, std::move(str)) and constructor body throws then the value inside str is lost (the value was moved into parameter and then data member before the exception). So one can not write while(std::cin>>str>>...){ try{ variable(..., ..., str); ... }catch(...){} } and has to take on the burden of saving the str elsewhere (so the user do not have to type it again) when other constructor arguments might be illegal and have to be typed again.

3

The if (options_type::test(option::circular)) inside index_type index(value_type x) and value_type value(real_index_type i) reminds me of when I was dealing with periodic argument reduction in a simulator+monitor program (every ms PC sends sin(A*t+B) and receives actual value to&from a chip through UDP, t can be as large as several days). There should be some high precision functions in boost.core/utility/utilities/tool/tools/toolbox/... and we just need to find them.
https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/numeric/lerp
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64058564/single-precision-argument-reduction-for-trigonometric-functions-in-c

{
    // using A = axis::variable<double, axis::null_type, op::circular_t>; // using double solves the errors
    using A = axis::variable<float, axis::null_type, op::circular_t>;
    auto a = A({
      1.,
      1e+8,
      2e+8,
    });
    BOOST_TEST_EQ(a.index(1e8), 1);
    BOOST_TEST_EQ(a.index(2e8), 0); // test 'a.index(2e8) == 0' ('-1' == '0') failed
    BOOST_TEST_EQ(a.index(4e8), 0); // test 'a.index(4e8) == 0' ('-1' == '0') failed
}
{
    // using A = axis::variable<double, axis::null_type, op::circular_t>; // using double solves the errors
    using A = axis::variable<float, axis::null_type, op::circular_t>;
    auto a = A({
      -2e+8,
      -1e+8,
      -1.,
    });
    BOOST_TEST_EQ(a.index(-1e8), 1);
    BOOST_TEST_EQ(a.index(-2e8), 0);
    BOOST_TEST_EQ(a.index(-4e8), 1); // test 'a.index(-4e8) == 1' ('0' == '1') failed
}
return boost::report_errors();

Your points 1 to 3 sound interesting, but I do not fully understand you yet.

1. The idea behind boost::use_default is that the default can be changed locally at the implementation site. It is an established pattern in boost, but perhaps a bit dated. I am not sure what you specifically propose to change. The two blocks of code, the commented and uncommented one, look the same to me. detail::replace_default is syntactic sugar for std::conditional_t<std::is_same_v<Value, use_default> ... >.

2. How would you provide the strong exception guarantee? In general, we do not know how MetaData is implemented, when it is user-defined. I think I get it now, to achieve this we have to perform std::move(meta) at the end of the constructor, after the potential throws. Good catch!

3. If there is a way to make it more accurate, that would be another interesting patch. Regarding std::lerp and std::midpoint, if you want to use C++20 features, we need to wrap the calls and emulate them in C++14. The best is to use some existing code in Boost which already does this, like you said.

But let's not get sidetracked. We should discuss eytzinger here, feel free to open issues for the other topics so that we can discuss them separately.

The failure on Windows is caused by the new detail/prefetch.hpp code. It looks like I oversimplified the original implementation, this needs a better platform check. Edit: The original code seemed to be wrong?! Anyway, it works now.

Should I git push origin eytzinger_search or git fetch origin develop; git merge develop; git push origin eytzinger_search or ...?

I just made another commit to this branch to fix the failure on Windows, please rebase your branch (or don't if you already fixed that in your branch). Then sync your local branch to your fork on GitHub. Then browse to your fork on the Github website and use the website interface to start a pull request onto the develop branch of boostorg/histogram. This should create another PR. I should be able to make changes to your PR and we can close this PR then.

@HDembinski The point 1 intends to:

1. let users use variable_t when possible as it maps different input types to same output type to make post processing easier;
2. variable should appear only when they want to:
   • template deduce the type template arguments (V, M, O, A, ...) in variable<V, M, O, A, ...> or
   • check if a type is a specialization of variable

(there are two implementations of variable_t and I commented out one of them, which one is used doesn't matter)

We can ignore this for now because it's not a big issue and it's too easy for users to add this layer of abstraction themselves.

The pull request is created at #376 . (The design is very strange because a shallow type and a stateful type are occupying the same position and should be made interchangable.) I will wait for the checks and fix the syntax/semantic errors first.

let users use variable_t when possible as it maps different input types to same output type to make post processing easier;\nvariable should appear only when they want to:\ntemplate deduce the type template arguments (V, M, O, A, ...) in variable\u003CV, M, O, A, ...> or\ncheck if a type is a specialization of variable

I still do not understand what your template alias achieves that the current implementation does not. The library was designed so you do not have to specify the template arguments if you are ok with the defaults. In C++14, you can use

variable<> my_axis;

To get the defaults. In C++17, you can drop the <> and let the deduction guides select the right type.

What advantages does your idea have over this scheme? What kind of additional abstraction is needed?

@HDembinski Here are some examples why using variable_t can bring convenience.

std::is_same_v<
    boost::histogram::axis::variable<double, std::string, boost::use_default>,
    boost::histogram::axis::variable<double, std::string, decltype(boost::histogram::axis::option::underflow | boost::histogram::axis::option::overflow)>
>

is false,

std::is_same_v<
    boost::histogram::axis::variable_t<double, std::string, boost::use_default>,
    boost::histogram::axis::variable_t<double, std::string, decltype(boost::histogram::axis::option::underflow | boost::histogram::axis::option::overflow)>
>

is true;

This causes a compile error:

boost::histogram::axis::variable<double, std::string, boost::use_default> a;
boost::histogram::axis::variable<double, std::string, decltype(boost::histogram::axis::option::underflow | boost::histogram::axis::option::overflow)> b;
a = b;

This does not cause a compile error:

boost::histogram::axis::variable_t<double, std::string, boost::use_default> a;
boost::histogram::axis::variable_t<double, std::string, decltype(boost::histogram::axis::option::underflow | boost::histogram::axis::option::overflow)> b;
a = b;

In templates, you can get the meta type, options type, allocator type conveniently if template users write variable_t, not if template users write variable:

template<typename V, typename M, typename O, typename A>
void f(boost::histogram::axis::variable<V, M, O, A>)
{
    std::cout << typeid(V).name() << '\n';
    std::cout << typeid(M).name() << '\n';
    std::cout << typeid(O).name() << '\n';
    std::cout << typeid(A).name() << '\n';
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    f(boost::histogram::axis::variable<>());
    //double
    //struct boost::use_default
    //struct boost::use_default
    //class std::allocator<double>

    f(boost::histogram::axis::variable_t<>());
    //double
    //class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >
    //struct boost::histogram::axis::option::bitset<3>
    //class std::allocator<double>
}

In debugger, you can not see what options a has but can see what options b has:

boost::histogram::axis::variable<> a;
boost::histogram::axis::variable_t<> b;

This PR is continued in #376