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Introduction to Templates

Explore how C++ templates allow you to write generic functions and classes that work with various data types. Understand template syntax, benefits like code reusability and type safety, and how to apply templates in practical programming scenarios.

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Definition

Templates are the mechanism by which C++ implements the generic concept.

The following example illustrates two non-generic (type-sensitive) functions for multiplying two numbers, x and y:

C++
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int multiply ( int x, int y ) //multiplies two ints
{
    return (x * y);
}
double multiply ( double x, double y )  //multiplies two doubles
{
    return (x * y);
}
int main(){
  int temp1;
  double temp2;
  temp1 = multiply(4,5);
  temp2 = multiply(4.5,5.5);
  cout << "Value of temp1 is: "<< temp1<<endl;
  cout << "Value of temp2 is: "<<temp2<<endl;
}

Two functions that do exactly the same thing, but cannot be defined as a single function because they use different data types.

Function templates

Templa ...