On 9/23/07, David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> wrote:
quoted text
> "Marco Costalba" <mcostalba@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > On 9/23/07, Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> wrote:
> >>
> >> There are a few features of C++ that I really really like. For example, I
> >> think the C preprocessor is absolutely horrid, and a preprocessor that is
> >> built into the language - and integrates with the syntax - would be
> >> wonderful. And while C++ doesn't improve on that, at least templates are
> >> an example of something like that. Not perfect, but that's the kind of
> >> feature that C really would like.
> >>
> >
> > Yes, I really agree. IMO templates are the thing that more resembles
> > procedural programming, a common way of using them is to split data
> > structures (containers) from functions that operates on them
> > (algorithms). I find them very similar to the struct + functions
> > classical approach of C.
> >
> > And BTW
> >
> > template <typename T>
> >
> > is the thing in C++ that more remembers me of opaque pointers and
> > their use in C, the difference is that the first is fully type
> > checked.
>
> Not really.  The difference is that the first generates new (and
> optimized) code for every type which is something you can only do
> using macros in C.  Class programming is similar to opaque pointers
> (in particular concerning the generated code) but templates are really
> more like macros, as their instantiation generates specialized code,
> not at all like the handling of opaque pointers.
>

Probably if I had written like this was more clear:

template <typename T>  int some_function(T* p);

And regarding 'new' code for each type I would like to remember that
template instantations of different types can be removed by
compiler/linker when the instantations are the same (i.e. produce the
same binary instuctions), this could happen for function templates
that handle pointers, as example.

Marco
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