Examples

Function Template

A funcion template is a generic function that can operate over different types using the same function definition. For example, you might want to define an operation maximum which finds which of two parameters a and b is greater.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

template <typename T1, typename T2>
auto maximum(T1 a, T2 b) {
  return a > b ? a : b;
}

int main() {
  std::cout << "maximum(3, 3.4): " << maximum(3, 3.4) << '\n';
  std::cout << "maximum('a', 'b'): " << maximum('a', 'b') << '\n';
}

This prints out

maximum(3, 3.4): 3.4
maximum('a', 'b'): b