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Thinking in C++ Vol 2 - Practical Programming
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Template specialization

The term specialization has a specific, template-related meaning in C++. A template definition is, by its very nature, a generalization, because it describes a family of functions or classes in general terms. When template arguments are supplied, the result is a specialization of the template because it determines a unique instance out of the many possible instances of the family of functions or classes. The min( ) function template seen at the beginning of this chapter is a generalization of a minimum-finding function because the type of its parameters is not specified. When you supply the type for the template parameter, whether explicitly or implicitly via argument deduction, the resultant code generated by the compiler (for example, min<int>( )) is a specialization of the template. The code generated is also considered an instantiation of the template, as are all code bodies generated by the template facility.

Thinking in C++ Vol 2 - Practical Programming
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   Reproduced courtesy of Bruce Eckel, MindView, Inc. Design by Interspire