The following code example is taken from the book
C++ Templates - The Complete Guide
by David Vandevoorde and Nicolai M. Josuttis, Addison-Wesley, 2002
© Copyright David Vandevoorde and Nicolai M. Josuttis 2002
#include <iostream>
#include <cstring>
#include <string>
// maximum of two values of any type
template <typename T>
inline T const& max (T const& a, T const& b)
{
return a < b ? b : a;
}
// maximum of two pointers
template <typename T>
inline T* const& max (T* const& a, T* const& b)
{
return *a < *b ? b : a;
}
// maximum of two C-strings
inline char const* const& max (char const* const& a,
char const* const& b)
{
return std::strcmp(a,b) < 0 ? b : a;
}
int main ()
{
int a=7;
int b=42;
::max(a,b); // max() for two values of type int
std::string s="hey";
std::string t="you";
::max(s,t); // max() for two values of type std::string
int* p1 = &b;
int* p2 = &a;
::max(p1,p2); // max() for two pointers
char const* s1 = "David";
char const* s2 = "Nico";
::max(s1,s2); // max() for two C-strings
}