Welcome to /dev/null notes on /dev/null notes

Recursive lambdas in C++

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

There are algorithms that have a natural recursive representation and are very cumbersome or painful to write iteratively. With the advent of lambda expressions in C++11, it seemed only natural that they should support recursive calls. But reality hit hard: recursion and lambdas didn’t mix at all until C++14, and even then the support was far from programmer-friendly. The newest C++ edition finally brings the possibility of creating a recursive lambda to the table.

Annotations in C++26 static reflection

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

C++26 added static reflection to the already big bag of compile-time features. One of the most powerful tools that made it into the language is the ability to use custom annotations and to inspect them at compile time. Here, we will see how to define and use annotations, and how to pass various arguments to them that can be extracted through reflection.

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

hic sunt dracones…

Hi, I’m Dawid Zalewski. I can read code reasonably well and (somewhat worse) write it. Mostly in C++ and in C. But occasionally I also venture into the likes of Python, Rust, Bash, Haskell and others. This site collects my loose thoughts and results of investigations down the rabbit hole on things I find interesting. Normally, these would end up in /dev/null, hence the name.

Talking

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Occasionally, I give talks on topics related to the technicalities of C++, C, systems programming and software development in general. Here you’ll find a list with recordings and slides from my past talks.

▸ Lambdas–the good, the bad, and the tricky at Meeting C++ 2019 #

:newspaper: Slides
:tv: Sadly, because of an equipment malfunction, a recording of this talk is not available. :disappointed:

▸ Structured bindings uncovered at C++ on Sea 2020 #

:newspaper: Slides
:tv: Recording of the session

▸ Lambdas, uses and abuses at Meeting C++ 2020 #

:newspaper: Slides
:tv: Recording of the session

▸ Modern C on Sea, a half-day workshop on modern C, at C++ on Sea 2021 #

This was a workshop, so there’s no recording or slides available.

▸ To pass and return–the story of functions, values and compilers at Meeting C++ 2021 #

:newspaper: Slides
:tv: Recording of the session

▸ To pass and return–the story of functions, values and compilers at C++ on Sea 2022 #

This is an updated and modified version of the talk I gave at Meeting C++ 2021.