From: Valentin Bonnard (Bonnard.V_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-01-18 14:49:34
Dave Abrahams wrote:
> In generic programs, there are two ways to allow users to customize
> behaviors of called functions for their own types:
>
> 1. We can use overloading and rely on Koenig lookup to help select specific
> implementations.
> 2. We can supply a function template and rely on the user to specialize it
> for her own types.
[ very good explanation sniped ]
> I'm not absolutely sure what the policy ought to be for generic code, though
> I lean toward the high-labor, low-intrusiveness approach (option 2).
Since there is no such thing a function partial specialization,
option 2 is unusable for any kind of generic code.
I understand that deserving a name in all namespaces isn't
pleasant.
[Standard question:
Is it allowed to define a template function explicit specialization
in a friend declaration, as in the following ?
template <typename> void foo();
struct bar {
template<> friend void foo<int> () {}
};
(g++ rejects it) --end standard question]
-- Valentin Bonnard