TR1 ("Technical Report 1") is a specification for new functionality being added to C++'s standard library. This functionality takes the form of new class and function templates for things like hash tables, reference-counting smart pointers, regular expressions, and more. TR1 itself is just a document. As I write this in early 2005, the document has not been finalized, and its URL is subject to change.

TR1 Itself

The current TR1 draft is dated 24 June 2005. This is a draft due only to procedural issues; the content will not change.

TR1 Contents

The following table gives an overview of the contents of TR1. The columns show the page number of Effective C++, Third Edition that summarizes that part of TR1; the name used by Effective C++, Third Edition for that component; the name used in the TR1 Table of Contents for that component; and the number of the C++ standardization document that proposed the component.

TR1 itself contains no background information on the components it specifies, i.e., it offers no rationale for the functionality it provides, gives no examples of how it would be useful, provides no reasoning for the interfaces being the way they are, etc. That kind of information is available in the proposal documents and in the publications listed later on this page. In the table below, each proposal document number is a link to the proposal itself. Except as noted, all proposal documents are in HTML.

EC++ Page	Effective C++, Third Edition Name	TR1 Name	Proposal Document
265	Smart Pointers	Smart Pointers	n1450
265	tr1::function	Polymorphic Function Wrappers	n1402
266	tr1::bind	Function Object Binders	n1455
266	Hash Tables	Unordered Associative Containers	n1456
266	Regular Expressions	Regular Expressions	n1429
266	Tuples	Tuple Types	n1403 (PDF)
267	tr1::array	Fixed Size Array	n1479
267	tr1::mem_fn	Function Template mem_fn	n1432
267	tr1::reference_wrapper	Reference Wrappers	n1453
267	Random Number Generation	Random Number Generation	n1452
267	Mathematical Special Functions	Mathematical Special Functions	n1422
267	C99 Compatibility Extensions	C Compatibility	n1568
267	Type Traits	Metaprogramming and Type Traits	n1424
267	tr1::result_of	Function Return Types	n1454

Publications About TR1

Coincidentally, two magazine overviews of TR1 appeared at about the same time Effective C++, Third Edition came out. They are:

• "The Technical Report on C++ Library Extensions," Matthew H. Austern, Dr. Dobb's Journal, June 2005. [Freely accessible to CMP Developer Network members only, unfortunately.]
• "The New C++ Not-So-Standard Library," Pete Becker, C/C++ Users Journal, June 2005. [Also freely accessible to CMP Developer Network members only.]
  • This is the first in a series of columns on various parts of TR1.

• The C++ Standard Library Extensions, Pete Becker, Addison-Wesley, 2007, ISBN 0-321-41299-0.

TR1 Implementations

I am aware of the following implementations of all or major parts of TR1, but there may be others that I don't know about.

• Boost has implemented functionality that is close or identical to most of the components of TR1. It also offers a TR1 library facade that yields native functionality if it's available and Boost functionality if not (provided Boost has the functionality, which is not always the case).
• GCC includes much of TR1's functionality as part of the standard library that ships with version 4 of its C++ compiler.
• Dinkumware offers a full implementation of TR1 as a commercial product.

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