Summary

We have just introduced a design pattern aimed solely at improved performance. Efficiency is an important consideration for the C++ language; thus, the C++ community developed patterns to address the most common inefficiencies. Repeated or wasteful memory allocation is perhaps the most common of all. The design pattern we have just seen - local buffer optimization - is a powerful tool that can greatly reduce such allocations. We have seen how it can be applied to compact data structures, as well as to store small objects, such as callables. We have also reviewed the possible downsides of using this pattern.

With the next chapter, Chapter 11, ScopeGuard, we move on to study more complex patterns that address broader design issues. The idioms we have learned so far are often used in the implementation of these patterns.