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When to Use std::variant

Understand when to apply std::variant in C++17 as a type-safe alternative to unions for handling multiple types. Explore use cases like parsing, error management, finite state machines, and polymorphism without inheritance.

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Unless you’re doing some low-level stuff, possibly only with simple types, then unions might be a valid option [^noteGuide]. But for all other uses cases, where you need alternative types, std::variant is the way to go.

[^noteGuide]: See ...