Whats the idea behind “templates”?
A template is a cookie-cutter that specifies how to cut cookies that all look pretty much the same (although the cookies can be made of various kinds of dough, they’ll all have the same basic shape). In the same way, a class template is a cookie cutter for a description of how to build a family of classes that all look basically the same, and a function template describes how to build a family of similar looking functions. Class templates are often used to build type safe containers (although this only scratches the surface for how they can be used).
A template is a cookie-cutter that specifies how to cut cookies that all look pretty much the same (although the cookies can be made of various kinds of dough, they’ll all have the same basic shape). In the same way, a class template is a cookie cutter to description of how to build a family of classes that all look basically the same, and a function template describes how to build a family of similar looking functions. Class templates are often used to build type safe containers (although this only scratches the surface for how they can be used).
