Question

I have the following Python snippet that I would like to reproduce using C++:

from itertools import count, imap

source = count(1)
pipe1 = imap(lambda x: 2 * x, source)
pipe2 = imap(lambda x: x + 1, pipe1)
sink = imap(lambda x: 3 * x, pipe2)
for i in sink:
    print i

I’ve heard of Boost Phoenix, but I couldn’t find an example of a lazy transform behaving in the same way as Python’s imap.

Edit: to clarify my question, the idea is not only to apply functions in sequence using a for, but rather to be able to use algorithms like std::transform on infinite generators. The way the functions are composed (in a more functional language like dialect) is also important, as the next step is function composition.

Update: thanks bradgonesurfing, David Brown, and Xeo for the amazing answers! I chose Xeo’s because it’s the most concise and it gets me right where I wanted to be, but David’s was very important into getting the concepts through. Also, bradgonesurfing’s tipped Boost::Range :).

Answer 1

Employing Boost.Range:

int main(){
  auto map = boost::adaptors::transformed; // shorten the name
  auto sink = generate(1) | map([](int x){ return 2*x; })
                          | map([](int x){ return x+1; })
                          | map([](int x){ return 3*x; });
  for(auto i : sink)
    std::cout << i << "\n";
}

Live example including the generate function.