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COZ - Coroutine ZERO

Stackless coroutine for C++, but zero-allocation. Rebirth of CO2.

Dependencies

  • Boost.Config
  • Boost.Preprocessor

Why

C++20 introduced coroutine into the language, however, in many cases (especially in async scenario), it incurs memory allocation, as HALO is not guaranteed. This creates resistance to its usage, as the convenience it offers may not worth the overhead it brings. People will tend to write monolithic coroutines instead of splitting them into small, reusable coroutines in fear of introducing too many allocations, this is contrary to the discipline of programming.

What it is

COZ is a single-header library that utilizes preprocessor & compiler magic to emulate the C++ coroutine, while requires zero allocation, it also doesn't require type erasure. With COZ, the entire coroutine is under your control, unlike standard coroutine, which can only be accessed indirectly via the coroutine_handle.

NOTE
COZ uses stateful metaprogramming technique, which may not be blessed by the standard committee.

Overview

This library is modeled after the standard coroutine. It offers several macros to replace the language counterparts.

To use it, #include <coz/coroutine.hpp>

A coroutine written in this library looks like below:

auto function(Args... args) COZ_BEG(promise-initializer, (captured-args...),
    local-vars...;
) {
    // for generator-like coroutine
    COZ_YIELD(...);
    // for task-like coroutine
    COZ_AWAIT(...);
    COZ_RETURN(...);
} COZ_END

The coroutine body has to be surrounded with 2 macros: COZ_BEG and COZ_END.

The macro COZ_BEG takes some parameters:

  • promise-initializer - expression to initialize the promise, e.g. async<int>(exe)
  • captured-args (optional) - comma separated args to be captured, e.g. (a, b)
  • local-vars (optional) - local-variable definitions, e.g. int a = 42;

If there's no captured-args and locals, it looks like:

COZ_BEG(init, ())

promise-initializer

The promise-initializer is an expression, whose type must define a promise_type, which will be constructed with the expression. It can take args from the function params. For example, you can take an executor to be used for the promise.

template<class Exe>
auto f(Exe exe) COZ_BEG(async<int>(exe), ())

Remarks

  • the args (e.g. exe in above example) don't have to be in the captured-args.
  • if the expression contains comma that is not in parentheses, you must surround the it with parentheses (e.g. (task<T, E>)).

local-vars

You can intialize the local variables as below:

auto f(int i) COZ_BEG(init, (i),
    int i2 = i * 2; // can refer to the arg
    std::string msg{"hello"};
) ...

Remarks

  • () initializer cannot be used.
  • auto deduced variable cannot be used.

coroutine-body

Inside the coroutine body, there are some restrictions:

  • local variables with automatic storage cannot cross suspension points - you should specify them in local variables section of COZ_BEG as described above
  • switch body cannot contain suspension points.
  • identifiers starting with _coz_ are reserved for this library
  • Some language constructs should use their marcro replacements (see below).

After defining the coroutine body, remember to close it with COZ_END.

Replacements for language constructs

co_await

It has 4 variants: COZ_AWAIT, COZ_AWAIT_SET, COZ_AWAIT_APPLY and COZ_AWAIT_LET.

MACRO Core Language
COZ_AWAIT(expr) co_await expr
COZ_AWAIT_SET(var, expr) var = co_await expr
COZ_AWAIT_APPLY(f, expr, args...) f(co_await expr, args...)
COZ_AWAIT_LET(var-decl, expr) {...} {var-decl = co_await expr; ...}

Remarks

  • The expr is either used directly or transformed. operator co_await is not used.
  • If your compiler supports Statement Expression extension (e.g. GCC & Clang), you can use COZ_AWAIT as an expression. However, don't use more than one COZ_AWAIT in a single statement, and don't use it as an argument of a function in company with other arguments.
  • f in COZ_AWAIT_APPLY can also be a marco (e.g. COZ_RETURN)
  • COZ_AWAIT_LET allows you to declare a local variable that binds to the co_await result, then you can process it in the brace scope.

co_yield

MACRO expr Lifetime
COZ_YIELD(expr) transient
COZ_YIELD_KEEP(expr) cross suspension point

Semantic

promise.yield_value(expr);
<suspend>

Remarks

  • It differs from the standard semantic, which is equivalent to co_await promise.yield_value(expr). Instead, we ignore the result of yield_value and just suspend afterward.
  • While COZ_YIELD_KEEP is more general, COZ_YIELD is more optimization-friendly.

co_return

MACRO Core Language
COZ_RETURN() co_return
COZ_RETURN(expr) co_return expr

try/catch

Needed only if the try-block contains suspension points.

COZ_TRY {
    ...
} COZ_CATCH (const std::runtime_error& e) {
    ...
} catch (const std::exception& e) {
    ...
}

Remarks

Only the first catch clause needs to be written as COZ_CATCH, the subsequent ones should use the plain catch.

Coroutine API

coz::coroutine has interface defined as below:

template<class Promise, class Params, class State>
struct coroutine {
    template<class Init>
    explicit coroutine(Init&& init);

    // No copy.
    coroutine(const coroutine&) = delete;
    coroutine& operator=(const coroutine&) = delete;

    coroutine_handle<Promise> handle() noexcept;

    Promise& promise() noexcept;
    const Promise& promise() const noexcept;

    bool done() const noexcept;
    void start(Params&& params);
    void resume();
    void destroy();
};

Remarks

  • The init constructor param is the promise-initializer.
  • The lifetime of Promise is tied to the coroutine.
  • Non-started coroutine is considered to be done.
  • Don't call destroy if it's already done.

coz::coroutine_handle has the same interface as the standard one.

Customization points

coz::co_result

This defines what is returned from the coroutine. The prototype is:

template<class Init, class Params, class State>
struct co_result;

The first template param (i.e. Init) is the type of promise-initializer. Params and State are the template params that you should pass to coz::coroutine<Promise, Params, State>, the Promise should be the same as Init::promise_type.

Users could customize it like below:

template<class Params, class State>
struct [[nodiscard]] coz::co_result<MyCoroInit, Params, State> {
    MyCoroInit m_init;
    Params m_params;

    // optional
    auto get_return_object();
    ...
};

Remarks

  • co_result will be constructed the with the promise-initializer and the captured-args.
  • if get_return_object is defined, its result is returned; otherwise, the co_result itself is returned.

Promise

The interface for Promise looks like below:

struct Promise {
    void finalize();

    // either
    void return_void();
    // or
    void return_value();

    void unhandled_exception();

    // optional
    auto await_transform(auto expr);
};

Remarks

  • There's no initial_suspend and final_suspend. The user should call coroutine::start to start the coroutine.
  • Once the coroutine stops (either normally or via destroy) the Promise::finalize will be called.
  • await_transform is not greedy (i.e. could be filtered by SFINAE).

Awaiter

The interface for Awaiter looks like below:

struct Awaiter {
    bool await_ready();

    // either
    void await_suspend(coroutine_handle<Promise> coro);
    // or
    bool await_suspend(coroutine_handle<Promise> coro);

    T await_resume();
};

Remarks

  • Unlike standard coroutine, await_suspend cannot return coroutine_handle.

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Jamboree

Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)