Explicit Specialization of Function Templates

The latest version of this topic can be found at Explicit Specialization of Function Templates.

With a function template, you can define special behavior for a specific type by providing an explicit specialization (override) of the function template for that type. For example:

template<> void MySwap(double a, double b);  

This declaration enables you to define a different function for double variables. Like non-template functions, standard type conversions (such as promoting a variable of type float to double) are applied.

Example

// explicit_specialization.cpp  
template<class T> void f(T t)  
{  
};  
  
// Explicit specialization of f with 'char' with the  
// template argument explicitly specified:  
//  
template<> void f<char>(char c)  
{  
}  
  
// Explicit specialization of f with 'double' with the  
// template argument deduced:  
//  
template<> void f(double d)  
{  
}  
int main()  
{  
}  

See Also

Function Templates