Quick Reference: Variables and Expressions

Data types used in `qbpp::Expr`

coeff_t: The integer data type used for coefficients in qbpp::Term objects. The default is int32_t.
energy_t: The integer data type used to compute energy values of qbpp::Expr objects, as well as for integer constant terms in qbpp::Expr. The default is int64_t. The bit width of energy_t is guaranteed to be equal to or larger than that of coeff_t.

These types come as prebuilt shared-library variants. Select one by defining one of the following INTEGER_TYPE_* shorthand macros before including the header (or pass it as a compiler flag -D...):

Macro	`coeff_t`	`energy_t`
`INTEGER_TYPE_C32E32`	`int32_t`	`int32_t`
`INTEGER_TYPE_C32E64` (default)	`int32_t`	`int64_t`
`INTEGER_TYPE_C64E64`	`int64_t`	`int64_t`
`INTEGER_TYPE_C64E128`	`int64_t`	`int128_t`
`INTEGER_TYPE_C128E128`	`int128_t`	`int128_t`
`INTEGER_TYPE_CPP_INT`	`cpp_int`	`cpp_int`

In addition, the MAXDEG* macro controls how each qbpp::Term stores its variables. Fixed-length modes eliminate heap allocation and improve performance when the maximum degree is known in advance:

Macro	Max degree	Description
`MAXDEG0` (default)	unlimited	Variable-length (heap allocation for degree 3+)
`MAXDEG2`	2	Fixed-length, QUBO only (no heap allocation, fastest)
`MAXDEG4`	4	Fixed-length, up to degree 4 (no heap allocation)
`MAXDEG6`	6	Fixed-length, up to degree 6 (no heap allocation)

INTEGER_TYPE_* and MAXDEG* can be combined independently. See VAREXPR for details.

WARNING To maximize performance, QUBO++ does not check for arithmetic overflow. During development and testing, it is recommended to use wider bit widths for coeff_t and energy_t. If the required bit widths are unclear, use qbpp::cpp_int to ensure correctness, and switch to fixed-width integer types after validation.

Printing class objects

Most classes in QUBO++ can be printed using the << operator with std::ostream, which is useful for debugging. For example, an object obj in QUBO++ can be printed to std::cout as follows:

std::cout << obj << std::endl;

This design allows easy inspection of internal states without relying on a debugger.

Variable classes

qbpp::Var: A class that holds a unique 32-bit integer ID. The variable name is stored in a global registry and can be inspected via std::cout << x.

NOTE A qbpp::Var object represents a variable symbolically. No specific data type is associated with it. It can be used to represent binary, spin, or other types of variables.

Variable creation functions

The following functions are provided to create variables:

qbpp::var("name"): Creates a qbpp::Var object with the given name "name".
qbpp::var("name", s1): Creates a 1-dimensional variable array with the base name "name". Each element is represented as name[i].
qbpp::var("name", s1, s2): Creates a 2-dimensional variable array (matrix) with the base name "name". Each element is represented as name[i][j].
qbpp::var("name", s1, s2, ...): Creates an N-dimensional variable array with the base name "name", where N is the number of dimensions. Each element is represented as name[i][j]....

NOTE If "name" is omitted, numbered names such as "{0}", "{1}", … are automatically assigned in creation order.

`qbpp::Var` member functions

For a qbpp::Var instance x, the following member functions are available:

uint32_t x.index(): Returns the unique integer ID of x.

Usually, there is no need to call these member functions explicitly in QUBO++ programs.

Integer variables

An integer variable is a qbpp::Expr carrying range and binary-decomposition metadata; it represents an integer value in a specified range.

Integer variable creation functions

The following functions are provided to create integer variables:

qbpp::var_int("name"): Returns an internally used helper object and does not create an integer variable by itself. To define an integer variable, the range must be specified using the <= operator, as shown below.
l <= qbpp::var_int("name") <= u: Here, l and u must be integers. This expression creates a qbpp::Expr integer variable with the name "name", whose held expression represents all integers in the range [l, u]. Internally, this also creates qbpp::Var objects used in the underlying expression.
l <= qbpp::var_int("name", s1) <= u: Creates a 1-dimensional array (vector) of integer-variable qbpp::Expr objects with the base name "name" and the same range [l, u]. Each element is represented as name[i]. Higher-dimensional arrays of integer variables can be created in the same way as qbpp::Var objects.

Integer variable member functions

For an integer variable x (a qbpp::Expr), the following member functions are available:

energy_t x.min_val: Returns the minimum value l of x.
energy_t x.max_val: Returns the maximum value u of x.
x.vars: Returns the qbpp::Var object array used to represent the integer variable.
x.coeffs: Returns the integer coefficient array.

The following expression is equivalent to the expression stored in x:

x.min_val + qbpp::sum(x.coeffs * x.vars)