27. Templates and Hierarchies

Euclid’s and Beethoven’s Fifth; knowing just one of them marks you as semi-educated.

– Stan Kelley-Bootle

• Introduction

• Parameterization and Hierarchy

Generated Types; Template Conversions

• Hierarchies of Class Templates

Templates as Interfaces

• Template Parameters as Base Classes

Composing Data Structures; Linearizing Class Hierarchies

• Advice

27.1. Introduction

Templates and derivation are mechanisms for building new types out of existing ones, for specifying interfaces, and generally for writing useful code that exploits various forms of commonality:

• A template class defines an interface. The template’s own implementation and those of its specializations can be accessed through that interface. The source ...

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