Debugging C++ Template Metaprograms Zolt·an Porkol·ab

Template metaprogramming is an emerging new direction in C++ programming for executing algorithms in compilation time. De-spite all of its already proven benets and numerous successful ap-plications, it is yet to be accepted in industrial projects. One reason is the lack of professional software tools supporting the develop-ment of template metaprograms. A strong analogue exists between traditional runtime programs and compile-time metaprograms. This connection presents the possibility for creating development tools similar to those already used when writing runtime programs. This paper introduces Templight, a debugging framework that reveals the steps executed by the compiler during the compilation of C++ programs with templates. Templight's features include following the instantiation chain, setting breakpoints, and inspecting metapro-gram information. This framework aims to take a step forward to help template metaprogramming become more accepted in the soft-ware industry