The actual benefits of C++ come when you approach problems differently. This is a case where more exposure to C helps you avoid all the Java isms.
Things to consider:
- can you allocate memory for the whole system? - can you make types homogenous so they can fit in tight arrays (unions are common for nodes) - can you batch similar types - specially for auto diff/math can you represent operations as a stack instead of a tree?
I am only bringing this up because you said your goal was to learn C++.
these are good questions, thank you! I'm "learning" c++ in a completely different way - looking at books rather than looking at existing code. Appreciate this comment!
Some of these questions I had thought about, but was learning more towards "describe the function in some higher level representation and then 'compile' it down to something computable and autodiff-able". This is exactly where my mind goes when I think about allocating memory for the whole system. that felt more like a racket/lisp way of looking at the problem.
- would anybody recommend you should reach for C++ to write Java style OOP in 2024?
- Best practice according to who?
https://gitlab.com/mebassett/quixotic-learning/-/tree/master...
about 1,000 LoC overall.