Generics (Visual C++)

In this section, find out how to author your own generic methods and types in Visual C++ and how to use generic types authored in C# or another language in Visual C++. This section also includes a comparison of generics and C++ templates.

In This Section

• Overview of Generics in Visual C++
  Information about generics are, the motivation for the language feature, definitions of terms used to describe generics, and information about the use of reference types and value types as type parameters for generics.

• Generic Functions
  Information about defining and using generic functions and methods.

• Generic Classes (Visual C++)
  Information about defining and using generic classes.

• Generic Interfaces (Visual C++)
  Information about defining and using generic interfaces.

• Generic Delegates (Visual C++)
  Information about defining and using generic delegates.

• Constraints
  Information about using constraints in generic types.

• Consuming Generics from Other .NET Languages
  Information about using generics defined in .NET assemblies, possibly authored in other languages, in Visual C++.

• Generics and Templates
  A comparison of generics and templates, when to use each, and how to combine them usefully.

Related Sections

• How to: Iterate Over a Generic Collection with for each
  Using the for each, in keyword on a generic collection.

• Generics in the .NET Framework Class Library (C# Programming Guide)
  Discusses .NET Framework class library's System.Collections.Generic, namespace, which includes several ready-to-use generic collection classes and associated interfaces.

• Introduction to Generics (C# Programming Guide)
  The generics section in the C# documentation.

• Generic Types in Visual Basic (Visual Basic)
  The generics section in the Visual Basic documentation.

• Templates Overview
  Information on templates in C++.

See Also

Concepts

Language Features for Targeting the CLR