cpp-gadgets

Lightweight C++ utilities for performance-critical code

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Overview

cpp-gadgets is a personal collection of small, fast, and cache-conscious C++ utilities.

Currently focused on gem5 modeling (where cycle count and memory layout matter), but designed to be general-purpose and useful in any domain requiring low-latency or high-throughput data structures — think hardware simulation, game engines, or embedded systems.

Note: These are not drop-in STL replacements.
They trade features (like iterator stability) for speed and predictability.
Use the STL when you need generality. Use this when you need performance.

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C++ Standard

• gem5-targeted gadgets: C++17 (matches gem5’s build system)
• Other gadgets: May use C++20 or later (specified per-directory)

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Project Structure

cpp-gadgets/
└── container/
    └── ring_queue/
        ├── README.md
        ├── ring_queue.hh
        ├── main.cc          # performance benchmark vs STL
        ├── test.cc          # correctness / unit tests
        └── Makefile

• README.md – Purpose, design rationale, trade-offs
• *.hh – Header-only implementation
• main.cc – Performance comparison vs STL + usage examples
• test.cc – Correctness and edge-case tests
• Makefile – Build and run both main and test

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Current Gadgets

Path	Description	STL Equivalent	C++ Standard
container/ring_queue	Vector-backed, contiguous ring buffer	std::deque	C++17
container/fast_list	Index-linked list with O(1) middle removal	std::list	C++17

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Build & Run

Each gadget includes a Makefile:

cd container/ring_queue
make perf     # runs main.cc (performance)
make test     # runs test.cc (correctness)
make all      # both
make clean

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Contributing

Work in progress.
Please open an issue first to discuss:

• New gadgets
• Design trade-offs
• Performance goals
• C++ standard version

PRs welcome after discussion.

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License

MIT License — do whatever you want with it.

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Just a repo for things I build. Mostly for gem5 right now. Might grow.