The auto keyword is a feature added to C++11 called a placeholder type specifier. In other words, the auto keyword is used to tell the compiler a variable's type will be deduced from its initializer. Unlike other languages that use placeholder types, the auto keyword must still adhere to the strict type system of C++, meaning auto should not be confused with std::any.
For example, the following is possible with std::any:
std::any i = 42;i = "The answer is: 42";
The following is not allowed with auto:
auto i = 42;i = "The answer is: 42";
In the first example, we define std::any, which stores an integer. We then replace the integer inside std::any with a C-style string. With respect to auto, this is not possible as, once the ...
