What is the meaning of template<> with empty angle brackets in C++?
template<>
class A{
//some class data
};
I have seen this kind of code many times.
what is the use of template<>
in the above code?
And what are the cases where we need mandate the use of it?
template<>
tells the compiler that a template specialization follows, specifically a full specialization. Normally, class A
would have to look something like this:
template<class T>
class A{
// general implementation
};
template<>
class A<int>{
// special implementation for ints
};
Now, whenever A<int>
is used, the specialized version is used. You can also use it to specialize functions:
template<class T>
void foo(T t){
// general
}
template<>
void foo<int>(int i){
// for ints
}
// doesn't actually need the <int>
// as the specialization can be deduced from the parameter type
template<>
void foo(int i){
// also valid
}
Normally though, you shouldn't specialize functions, as simple overloads are generally considered superior:
void foo(int i){
// better
}
And now, to make it overkill, the following is a partial specialization:
template<class T1, class T2>
class B{
};
template<class T1>
class B<T1, int>{
};
Works the same way as a full specialization, just that the specialized version is used whenever the second template parameter is an int
(e.g., B<bool,int>
, B<YourType,int>
, etc).
template<>
introduces a total specialization of a template. Your example by itself isn't actually valid; you need a more detailed scenario before it becomes useful:
template <typename T>
class A
{
// body for the general case
};
template <>
class A<bool>
{
// body that only applies for T = bool
};
int main()
{
// ...
A<int> ai; // uses the first class definition
A<bool> ab; // uses the second class definition
// ...
}
It looks strange because it's a special case of a more powerful feature, which is called "partial specialization."
Doesn't look right. Now, you might have instead written:
template<>
class A<foo> {
// some stuff
};
... which would be a template specialisation for type foo.