September 18th, 2002 — Understanding templates as a form of weak typing — Bruce Eckel

Published: Sun 01 September 2002
By nwcpp

In 2002.

Location

6464 185th Avenue NE
Redmond, WA 98052

Abstract

As I learned the Python programming language (see www.Python.org), I began to understand the concept of weak/latent typing (which the Smalltalk programmers are so fond of). At first, this seems like a very heretical and dangerous approach, but with time I not only began to see how powerful it is, but also to understand C++ templates in terms of weak typing. I found this gave me a much deeper understanding of the value and use of templates. In this talk, I will introduce the Python language and the concept of weak typing, and I will show C++ templates in the same light. You should come away with a deeper grasp of templates and where they can be put to use.

Bio

Bruce Eckel (www.BruceEckel.com) is the author of Thinking in Java (Prentice-Hall, 1998, 2nd Edition, 2000), the Hands-On Java Seminar CD ROM (available on the Web site), Thinking in C++ (PH 1995; 2nd edition 2000), C++ Inside & Out (Osborne/McGraw-Hill 1993), among others. He’s given hundreds of presentations throughout the world, published over 150 articles in numerous magazines, was a founding member of the ANSI/ISO C++ committee and speaks regularly at conferences. He provides public and private seminars & design consulting in C++ and Java.