Well, nothing I suppose, except BaseClass cannot then be a template, and you cannot have derived class-specific return types like a template would allow.
So, having BaseClassInt type return int from some function but BaseClassLong return a long gets more challenging than it should be. (I recognize all my examples so far had a void return type, that was just for simplicity).
> But both BaseClass * and DerivedClass * are compatible with each other, and may convert into each other, as long as you know the pointer goes to the right kind of class)
Which loses type safety, unfortunately.
> In this case, we've created a static_assert (aka: a compile-time error will pop up) if T does not convert into BaseClass
I'll look into the static_assert() option, could prove useful in some cases.
At the end of the day, there are two things at play here - my lack of C++ familiarity, and in some cases it's just how C++ is.
It is a strange feeling though, having a language limit your expressiveness for the first time...
template <class T>
void myFunc(List<T*>){
static_assert(stuff about T that you want to guarantee at compile time);
}
For a list of common functions used for compile-time type checking.
EDIT: Remember, in C++, "BaseClass" cannot polymorph, only "BaseClass * " can. (BaseClass is where the data is stored precisely. If its 20 bytes of RAM, then DerivedClass might be 24 bytes of RAM, and therefore can't fit. But both BaseClass * and DerivedClass * are compatible with each other, and may convert into each other, as long as you know the pointer goes to the right kind of class)
And if that's not sufficient, then a static_assert over the type information is probably what you need. Ex:
That's what I mean about C++ templates: they're a meta-language. You can add if-statements / else statements over type information at compile-time in C++.In this case, we've created a static_assert (aka: a compile-time error will pop up) if T does not convert into BaseClass (note: T may have a CopyConstructor(BaseClass), so maybe its not exactly tthe same concept as what you're trying to do... but this gives you an idea of C++isms...)