How does `std::move()` achieve the conversion of lvalues to rvalues in C ?

How does std::move Transform Expressions into Rvalues?

std::move() facilitates the conversion of expressions into rvalues (right value references) to enable move semantics. However, the implementation in the MSVC standard library can be perplexing.

The implementation is as follows:

template<class _Ty> inline
typename tr1::_Remove_reference<_Ty>::_Type&amp;&amp;
move(_Ty&amp;&amp; _Arg)
{ // forward _Arg as movable
    return ((typename tr1::_Remove_reference<_Ty>::_Type&amp;&amp;)_Arg);
}

Let's demonstrate how this works:

Object obj1;
Object obj2 = std::move(obj1); // _Ty&& _Arg binds to obj1

Upon calling std::move(), the _Arg reference parameter binds to the lvalue obj1. However, since binding an rvalue reference to an lvalue is not directly allowed, one might expect a cast to an rvalue reference, such as (Object&&), to be required.

Delving further into the implementation of std::remove_reference clarifies matters:

template<class _Ty>
struct _Remove_reference
{ // remove reference
    typedef _Ty _Type;
};

template<class _Ty>
struct _Remove_reference<_Ty&amp;>
{ // remove reference
    typedef _Ty _Type;
};

template<class _Ty>
struct _Remove_reference<_Ty&amp;&amp;>
{ // remove rvalue reference
    typedef _Ty _Type;
};

This implementation reveals that remove_reference transforms T& into T, T&& into T, and T&&& into T. Therefore, for our case, where obj1 is an lvalue of type Object, the resulting function becomes:

Object&& move(Object& arg)
{
    return static_cast<Object&amp;&amp;>(arg);
}

To elaborate further:

• When move is invoked with an rvalue (e.g., std::move(Object())), T becomes Object and the resulting function is:

Object&& move(Object&& arg)
{
    return static_cast<Object&amp;&amp;>(arg);
}

The cast to Object&& is necessary because named rvalue references are treated as lvalues, while implicit conversion from lvalue to rvalue reference is disallowed.

• When move is invoked with an lvalue, as in our earlier example, T becomes Object&, and the resulting function is:

Object&& move(Object& && arg)
{
    return static_cast<Object&amp;&amp;>(arg);
}

Here, C 11's reference collapsing rules come into play and allow the expression Object& && to be interpreted as Object&, an lvalue reference, which can indeed bind to lvalues. Thus, the final function transforms its argument into an rvalue reference and returns it.

In conclusion, std::move() utilizes std::remove_reference to enable the transformation of both lvalues and rvalues into rvalues, facilitating move semantics in C .

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