Template function as a template argument

Posted by Kos on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Kos
Published on 2011-01-15T00:01:14Z Indexed on 2011/01/15 0:54 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 232

Filed under:
|
|
|

I've just got confused how to implement something in a generic way in C++. It's a bit convoluted, so let me explain step by step.


Consider such code:

void a(int) {
    // do something
}
void b(int) {
    // something else
}


void function1() {
    a(123);
    a(456);
}
void function2() {
    b(123);
    b(456);
}

void test() {
    function1();
    function2();
}

It's easily noticable that function1 and function2 do the same, with the only different part being the internal function.

Therefore, I want to make function generic to avoid code redundancy. I can do it using function pointers or templates. Let me choose the latter for now. My thinking is that it's better since the compiler will surely be able to inline the functions - am I correct? Can compilers still inline the calls if they are made via function pointers? This is a side-question.

OK, back to the original point... A solution with templates:

void a(int) {
    // do something
}
void b(int) {
    // something else
}

template<void (*param)(int) >
void function() {
    param(123);
    param(456);
}

void test() {
    function<a>();
    function<b>();
}

All OK. But I'm running into a problem: Can I still do that if a and b are generics themselves?

template<typename T>
void a(T t) {
   // do something
}

template<typename T>
void b(T t) {
   // something else
}

template< ...param... > // ???
void function() {
    param<SomeType>(someobj);
    param<AnotherType>(someotherobj);
}

void test() {
    function<a>();
    function<b>();
}

I know that a template parameter can be one of:

  • a type,
  • a template type,
  • a value of a type.

None of those seems to cover my situation. My main question is hence: How do I solve that, i.e. define function() in the last example?

(Yes, function pointers seem to be a workaround in this exact case - provided they can also be inlined - but I'm looking for a general solution for this class of problems).

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about c++

Related posts about templates