Remembering the contents of C++'s algo functions; lambda expressions.
02 Jun 2021I use the std::sort() function a lot for vectors in C++; I need a functor that compares the elements of the vector as the third argument. I knew there was something similar for finding the minimum element of a vector, and there is: std::min_element().
In this case, I wanted to find the element in the vector of OpenCV Point2fs that had the smallest .y member.
#include<algorithm>
...
bool comparePtY(const Point2f& A, const Point2f& B)
{
return A.y < B.y;
}
...
vector<Point2f>::iterator minIter1 = std::min_element(points_off_internal_pattern.begin(), points_off_internal_pattern.end(), comparePtY);
cout << "min2 y is " << minIter2->y << endl;
But! While looking through all of the StackOverflow posts, I found something new to me, Lambda expressions, where I could do the same thing in fewer lines ….
vector<Point2f>::iterator minIter2 = std::min_element(points_off_internal_pattern.begin(), points_off_internal_pattern.end(), [] (const Point2f& A, const Point2f& B) {return A.y < B.y;});
My current understanding of Lambda expressions is beginner-level, but some lovely people from Twitter had some recommendations of places to start learning.
Links:
- Demystifying C++ lambdas, Glennan Carnie,
- Chapter 6 on Lambdas in Scott Meyers’ Effective Modern C++,
- C++ Lambda Story by Bartłomiej Filipek.