Question

template <typename Function> void for_each_element(
  const boost::tuples::null_type&, Function) {}

template <typename Tuple, typename Function> void     
  for_each_element(Tuple& t, Function func) {
    func(t.get_head());
    for_each_element(t.get_tail(),func);
}

Given the above code snippet, do we define a overload function or a partially specialized function?

Thank you

Answer 1

There’s no such thing as a function partial specialisation. It’s an overload.

e.g.

template <typename T, typename U>
void foo(T t, U u);

template <typename T>
void foo<T, int>(T t, int u); // Illegal: no partial specialisation of functions

template <typename T>
void foo(T t, int u); // OK

Be careful when mixing specialisations with overloads, as it doesn’t always work the way you may think it does.