C++26 Shipped a SIMD Library Nobody Asked For
Summary
A critical take on C++26 std::simd, arguing that a library-based portable SIMD abstraction underperforms and adds compile-time overhead. It compares std::simd to production-ready alternatives like Highway, SIMDe, xsimd, and ISPC, and suggests improvements at the language level (alignment, cross-lane operations, aliasing) rather than adding more library abstractions.