Can Automatic Type Inference Emulate Template Inheritance in C ?

Emulating Template Inheritance with Automatic Type Inference

The ability to specify template arguments automatically using auto would provide a convenient shortcut in situations where explicitly typing out full types can be tedious or complex. However, it's important to note that C does not currently support the direct emulation of template syntax.

Using Macros for Convenient Argument Passing

As a workaround, macros can be utilized to simulate automatic type inference. Consider the following example:

<code class="cpp">#define AUTO_ARG(x) decltype(x), x

Foo f;
f.bar<AUTO_ARG(5)>(); // Equivalent to f.bar<int, 5>()
f.bar<AUTO_ARG(&Baz::bang)>(); // Equivalent to f.bar<decltype(&Baz::bang), &Baz::bang>()</code>

While this approach can simplify the calling syntax, it introduces potential pitfalls and requires explicit macro calls.

Leveraging a Template Generator for Automatic Deduction

An alternative solution involves creating a template generator function:

<code class="cpp">template <typename T>
struct foo
{
    foo(const T&) {} // Perform specific actions
};

template <typename T>
foo<T> make_foo(const T& x)
{
    return foo<T>(x);
}</code>

With this generator, instead of explicitly specifying the template argument type:

<code class="cpp">foo<int>(5);</code>

One can use the deduction capabilities of the generator function:

<code class="cpp">make_foo(5); // Deduces and creates foo<int>(5)</code>

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