Building static (but complicated) lookup table using templates

I am currently in the process of optimizing a numerical analysis code. Within the code, there is a 200x150 element lookup table (currently a static std::vector <std::vector<double>> ) that is constructed at the beginning of every run. The construction of the lookup table is actually quite complex- the values in the lookup table are constructed using an iterative secant method on a complicated set of equations. Currently, for a simulation, the construction of the lookup table is 20% of the run time (run times are on the order of 25 second, lookup table construction takes 5 seconds). While 5-seconds might not seem开发者_开发知识库 to be a lot, when running our MC simulations, where we are running 50k+ simulations, it suddenly becomes a big chunk of time.

Along with some other ideas, one thing that has been floated- can we construct this lookup table using templates at compile time? The table itself never changes. Hard-coding a large array isn't a maintainable solution (the equations that go into generating the table are constantly being tweaked), but it seems that if the table can be generated at compile time, it would give us the best of both worlds (easily maintainable, no overhead during runtime).

So, I propose the following (much simplified) scenario. Lets say you wanted to generate a static array (use whatever container suits you best- 2D c array, vector of vectors, etc..) at compile time. You have a function defined-

double  f(int row, int col);

where the return value is the entry in the table, row is the lookup table row, and col is the lookup table column. Is it possible to generate this static array at compile time using templates, and how?

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Usually the best solution is code generation. There you have all the freedom and you can be sure that the output is actually a double[][].

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Save the table on disk the first time the program is run, and only regenerate it if it is missing, otherwise load it from the cache.

Include a version string in the file so it is regenerated when the code changes.

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A couple of things here.

1. What you want to do is almost certainly at least partially possible.

2. Floating point values are invalid template arguments (just is, don't ask why). Although you can represent rational numbers in templates using N1/N2 representation, the amount of math that you can do on them does not encompass the entire set that can be done on rational numbers. root(n) for instance is unavailable (see root(2)). Unless you want a bajillion instantiations of static double variables you'll want your value accessor to be a function. (maybe you can come up with a new template floating point representation that splits exp and mant though and then you're as well off as with the double type...have fun :P)

3. Metaprogramming code is hard to format in a legible way. Furthermore, by its very nature, it's rather tough to read. Even an expert is going to have a tough time analyzing a piece of TMP code they didn't write even when it's rather simple.

4. If an intern or anyone under senior level even THINKS about just looking at TMP code their head explodes. Although, sometimes senior devs blow up louder because they're freaking out at new stuff (making your boss feel incompetent can have serious repercussions even though it shouldn't).

All of that said...templates are a Turing-complete language. You can do "anything" with them...and by anything we mean anything that doesn't require some sort of external ability like system access (because you just can't make the compiler spawn new threads for example). You can build your table. The question you'll need to then answer is whether you actually want to.

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Why not have separate programs? One that generates the table and stores it in a file, and one that loads the file and runs the simulation on it. That way, when you need to tweak the equations that generate the table, you only need to recompile that program.

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If your table was a bunch of ints, then yes, you could. Maybe. But what you certainly couldn't do is generate doubles at compile-time.

More importanly, I think that a plain double[][] would be better than a vector of vectors here- you're pushing a LOT of dynamic allocation for a statically sized table.