The performance problem with the type traits isn't intrinsic, by the way -
it's because they were designed against C++03. A C++11 version,

template<class T> using is_arithmetic = integral_constant<bool, ...>;

does not cause instantiations.

But that probably will never get fixed. :-)

-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Sutton
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2020 18:11
To: sg7_at_[hidden]
Cc: Peter Dimov
Subject: Re: [SG7] type_traits vs value-based reflection world


> A constexpr-based model for type traits should reduce the number of class
> template instantiations needed during compilation. Instantiating classes
> can be costly (in terms of analyses performed and memory required for
> specializations). Calling a non-template constexpr function is relatively
> cheap by comparison.

Isn't there a more immediate reason for this? As far as I can see, it's not
currently possible to splice in consteval functions that take meta::info,
because the argument is not a constant expression. One can however call
meta::is_arithmetic on it.

E.g. https://cppx.godbolt.org/z/EG71jY


Good point. I'm putting the cart before the horse here (I blame lack of
coffee). "Usable in more contexts" is better motivation than compiler
performance.

Andrew