Template Base Delegation
Ted Law
IBM Software Solutions Toronto Laborat
ory
844 Don Mills Road
North York, Ontario M3C 1V7
Canada
tedlaw@vnet.ibm.com
Abstract
When a class derives from a template instantiation, the base class is
called a template base class. Non-template base classes are more
commonly used, but do not take into account the specific needs of the
derived class. The base class can provide better service; it can be
customized by becoming a template instantiation using the derived
class and/or other classes as arguments. In this way, the template
base class can tailor-make itself for the derived class, taking
advantage of the knowledge of its type. For example, the template
base class can type its methods appropriately for the derived class.
Furthermore, inheriting publicly from a template base class makes it
possible for the derived class to delegate part of its public
type-specific interface to the base. This paper explores the
advantages of template base delegation.
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