Python-like C++ decorators

Here's a project on github that's pretty much a short tutorial on how to achieve this behavior for C++14 and up. It's a very flexible design and can decorate non-static functions as well. The author doesn't use anything complex either:

https://github.com/TheMaverickProgrammer/C-Python-like-Decorators

Here is my attempt. Works under C++14 (generic lambdas and return type deduction).

#include <iostream>
#include <functional>

/* Decorator function example,
   returns negative (! operator) of given function
*/
template <typename T>
auto reverse_func(T func)
{
    auto r_func =
    [=](auto ...args)
    { 
        return !func(args...); 
    };

    return r_func; 
}

/* Decorator function example,
   prints result of given function before it's returned
*/
template <typename T>
auto print_result_func(T func)
{
    auto r_func = 
    [=](auto ...args)
    {
        auto result = func(args...);
        std::cout << "Result: " << result << std::endl;
        return result;
    };

    return r_func;
}

/* Function to be decorated example,
   checks whether two given arguments are equal
*/
bool cmp(int x, int y)
{
    return x == y;
}

/* Decorator macro */
#define DECORATE(function, decorator) \
    decorator<decltype(function)>(function)

int main()
{
    auto reversed = DECORATE(cmp, reverse_func);
    auto print_normal = DECORATE(cmp, print_result_func);
    auto print_reversed = DECORATE(reversed, print_result_func);
    auto print_double_normal = DECORATE(print_normal, print_result_func);
    auto print_double_reversed = DECORATE(print_reversed, print_result_func);

    std::cout << cmp(1,2) << reversed(1,2) << std::endl;
    print_double_normal(1,2);
    print_reversed(1,2);
    print_double_reversed(1,2);
}

std::function provides most of the building blocks for my proposed solution.

Here is my proposed solution.

#include <iostream>
#include <functional>

//-------------------------------
// BEGIN decorator implementation
//-------------------------------

template <class> struct Decorator;

template <class R, class... Args>
struct Decorator<R(Args ...)>
{
   Decorator(std::function<R(Args ...)> f) : f_(f) {}

   R operator()(Args ... args)
   {
      std::cout << "Calling the decorated function.\n";
      return f_(args...);
   }
   std::function<R(Args ...)> f_;
};

template<class R, class... Args>
Decorator<R(Args...)> makeDecorator(R (*f)(Args ...))
{
   return Decorator<R(Args...)>(std::function<R(Args...)>(f));
}

//-------------------------------
// END decorator implementation
//-------------------------------

//-------------------------------
// Sample functions to decorate.
//-------------------------------

// Proposed solution doesn't work with default values.
// int decorated1(int a, float b = 0)
int decorated1(int a, float b)
{
   std::cout << "a = " << a << ", b = " << b << std::endl;
   return 0;
}

void decorated2(int a)
{
   std::cout << "a = " << a << std::endl;
}

int main()
{
   auto method1 = makeDecorator(decorated1);
   method1(10, 30.3);
   auto method2 = makeDecorator(decorated2);
   method2(10);
}

Output:

Calling the decorated function.
a = 10, b = 30.3
Calling the decorated function.
a = 10

PS

Decorator provides a place where you can add functionality beyond making the function call. If you want a simple pass through to std::function, you can use:

template<class R, class... Args >
std::function<R(Args...)> makeDecorator(R (*f)(Args ...))
{
   return std::function<R(Args...)>(f);
}