Question

I would like to create a generic vector class and create specializations for a few cases. Something like this (it does not compile, but hopefully communicates my intentions):

template<int dim, typename T = float>
class Vector
{
public:
    typedef Vector<dim, T> VecType;

    Vector() { /**/ }
    Vector(const VecType& other) { /**/ )
    Vector& operator=(const VecType& other) { /**/ }

    VecType operator+(const VecType& other) { /**/ }    
    VecType operator-(const VecType& other) { /**/ }    
    T operator*(const VecType& other) { /**/ }

private:
    std::array<T, dim> elements;
};

template<int dim, typename T>
class Vector<2>
{
public:
    T x() const { return elements[0]; }
    T y() const { return elements[1]; }
};

template<int dim, typename T>
class Vector<3>
{
public:
    T x() const { return elements[0]; }
    T y() const { return elements[1]; }
    T z() const { return elements[2]; }
};

In other words, I want the default type of the elements to be float and I want to have x() and y() accessor methods for the dim = 2 case, and x(), y() and z() for the dim = 3 case. I’m a little confused by the error messages:

vector.h:56:10: error: declaration of ‘int dim’

vector.h:6:10: error: shadows template parm ‘int dim’

(same for T).

How can I do this correctly? (if it’s possible)

Answer 1

1.

When partially specializing a template, only supply the template parameters that are actually a parameter. Since you’ve already fixed dim to be 2 or 3, there’s no need to specify it again.

template<typename T>
class Vector<2, T>
{
   ....

2.

Specializing a class really means changing the whole declaration. Therefore, the members s of the generic Vector<dim, T> will not be available in the specialized Vector<2, T>. You could make the generic Vector<dim, T> as into an internal base class, and create a subclass just for specialization:

template<int dim, typename T>
class VectorImpl;

...

template<int dim, typename T = float>
class Vector : public VectorImpl<dim, T> {};

template<typename T>
class Vector<2, T> : public VectorImpl<2, T>
{
public:
   T x() const { ... }
};

3.

You don’t need to define VecType! Inside a template, you could just use Vector. It will automatically be deduced to refer to the class with the right parameters.

The end result that compiles:

#include <array>

template<int dim, typename T>
class VectorImpl
{
public:
    //typedef Vector<dim, T> VecType;

    VectorImpl() {  }
    VectorImpl(const VectorImpl& other) {  }
    VectorImpl& operator=(const VectorImpl& other) { return *this; }

    VectorImpl operator+(const VectorImpl& other) { return *this; }
    VectorImpl operator-(const VectorImpl& other) { return *this; }
    T operator*(const VectorImpl& other) { return 0; }

protected:
    std::array<T, dim> elements;
};

template <int dim, typename T = float>
class Vector : public VectorImpl<dim, T> {};

template<typename T>
class Vector<2, T> : public VectorImpl<2, T>
{
public:
    T x() const { return this->elements[0]; }
    T y() const { return this->elements[1]; }
};

template<typename T>
class Vector<3, T> : public VectorImpl<2, T>
{
public:
    T x() const { return this->elements[0]; }
    T y() const { return this->elements[1]; }
    T z() const { return this->elements[2]; }
};

int main()
{
    Vector<2> v;
    Vector<3> vv;
    v + v;
    vv.z();
}