isocpp / isocpp/CppCoreGuidelines

Ranges require exception to F.19

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Description

I noticed F.19: For “forward” parameters, pass by TP&& and only std::forward the parameter when my code triggered cppcoreguidelines-missing-std-forward in clang-tidy.

As Nicolai Josuttis and Arthur O'Dwyer mentioned, “If you see code using (deduced) T&& without std::forward<T>, it’s either buggy or it’s C++20 Ranges.” Yes, ranges code often requires a forwarding reference without needing to forward it. The range object may be modified during the iteration, so we cannot capture it with const T&. It can be an rvalue, so we cannot use T& either. Only T&& is viable. However, forwarding it often does no good at all, as shown by the example below:

#include <iostream>
#include <ranges>
#include <vector>

template <typename Rng>
void Access(Rng&& rng)
{
    for (const auto& item : rng) {
        std::cout << item << '\n';
    }
}

int main()
{
    std::vector vec{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6};
    Access(vec | std::views::filter([](int n) { return n % 2 == 0; }));
}

Forwarding rng (anyone wants to write for (const auto& item : std::forward<Rng>(rng))?) is weird, useless, and unnecessary. Doing so would probably cause more confusion: Why forwarding it here? What good does it do?

So I believe an exception should be added to F.19.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing guideline F.19 and the issue's C++20 Ranges example, then examine the surrounding guideline text for how exceptions are expressed. Done means reaching an agreed wording that clearly covers forwarding references used by ranges without unnecessary std::forward, while preserving the intent of F.19.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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