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From: Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.programmer
Subject: Re: Java vs C++
Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:57:46 -0500
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On 02/06/2011 10:35 AM, Thomas Richter wrote:
> Joshua Cranmer wrote:
>> Templates in C++ are basically advanced macros--each invocation of a
>> template type regenerates the class, so a Foo<int> and a Foo<double>
>> are two completely different things.
>
> That's much more than a macro could do. Templates are a language of its
> own, include syntax checks, etc. Quite unlike macros, they do not
> substitute text patterns. Templates allow meta-programming, i.e. you can
> use the compiler to generate code. And, of course, templates are quite
> complex - very unlike the simple-minded preprocessor.

It is the code generation that I'm referring to as "an advanced macro". 
It's a macro generator that understands types and is heavily integrated 
with the syntax of C++, but it is basically a way to automatically 
generate code.

> I beg your pardon? C++ allows nested templates since C++99 and before.
> The only issue here is a notational one, namely that you had to write
> A<B<C> > (note the space behind B<C>) to avoid >> being parsed as a
> token (shifting, namely). That is the only thing that got fixed in
> C++0x, not nesting templates which is part of the language since C++99.

I was specifically referring to the ability to use >> instead of > >.

-- 
Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not 
tried it. -- Donald E. Knuth