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CppCon 2015: Andrei Alexandrescu “std::allocator...”

CppCon · talk · Watch on YouTube

C, C++, Rust, Go & systems languagesSoftware performance & optimization

What it is

Andrei Alexandrescu's CppCon 2015 talk argues that std::allocator is badly designed. He proposes building high-performance allocators from small composable, templated pieces.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN repeatedly recommends it as an entertaining, mind-opening talk on allocator design and composable generic programming.

  • 7 people recommended it
  • 11 different months
  • 7 strong recommendations
  • first 2017, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “gave a great, entertaining, and technically elegant talk on memory allocation in C and C++ at Cppcon 2015 that is well worth watching”

    Entertaining, elegant talk on memory allocation in C and C++.

    nly, 2017-05 · Strong recommendation · in “The Horror in the Standard Library”

  2. “(mind bending stuff)”

    Concrete example of design-by-introspection in allocators.

    p0nce, 2018-12 · Strong recommendation · in “Using D to Create the World’s Fastest File System”

  3. “it was really interesting. And Andrei's presentation style was fantastic, per usual.”

    Composable allocator design with a fantastic presentation style.

    favorited, 2020-04 · Strong recommendation · in “Benchmarking C++ Allocators”

  4. “the brilliant CppCon 2015 talk by Andrei Alexandrescu”

    Modular allocator library built up from pieces.

    jiggawatts, 2020-12 · Strong recommendation · in “Writing a Memory Allocator (2019)”

  5. “Andrei Alexandrescu had a great talk about allocators in C++ a couple of years ago”

    Great talk on C++ allocators.

    badsectoracula, 2017-06 · Recommendation · in “Show HN: Crown – A flexible game engine written from scratch in C++”

  6. “Andrei Alexandrescu had a great talk[0] on allocators”

    Argues for tunable, composable allocator systems.

    Quekid5, 2019-06 · Recommendation · in “Mimalloc – A compact general-purpose allocator”

  7. “See this CppCon talk by the (engaging and funny) Andrei Alexandrescu”

    Engaging and funny talk on why allocator-type coupling is broken.

    einpoklum, 2023-12 · Recommendation · in “C++ Should Be C++”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: c++, std::allocator, composable allocators, andrei alexandrescu, templates, cppcon

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