C++ templates chapter 7(Basic Template Terminology)

The term class template states that the class is a template. That is, it is a parameterized description of a family of classes.

The term template class on the other hand has been used

- as a synonym for class template.

- to refer to classes generated from templates.

- to refer to classes with a name that is a template-id.

The process of creating a regular class, function, or member function from a template by substituting actual values for its arguments is called template instantiation. This resulting entity (class, function, or member function) is generically called a specialization.

The One-Definition Rule:

Noninline functions and member functions, as well as global variables and static data members should be defined only once across the whole program.

Class types (including structs and unions) and inline functions should be defined at most once per translation unit, and all these definitions should be identical.

 

Template parameters are those names that are listed after the keyword template in the template declaration or definition (T and N in our example).

Template arguments are the items that are substituted for template parameters (double and 10 in our example). Unlike template parameters, template arguments can be more than just "names."