what is a template in cpp code example

Example 1: c++ template function

template <class T>
void swap(T & lhs, T & rhs)
{
 T tmp = lhs;
 lhs = rhs;
 rhs = tmp;
}

Example 2: template function in C++

// template specialization
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// class template:
template <class T>
class mycontainer {
    T element;
  public:
    mycontainer (T arg) {element=arg;}
    T increase () {return ++element;}
};

// class template specialization:
template <>
class mycontainer <char> {
    char element;
  public:
    mycontainer (char arg) {element=arg;}
    char uppercase ()
    {
      if ((element>='a')&&(element<='z'))
      element+='A'-'a';
      return element;
    }
};

int main () {
  mycontainer<int> myint (7);
  mycontainer<char> mychar ('j');
  cout << myint.increase() << endl;
  cout << mychar.uppercase() << endl;
  return 0;
}

Example 3: use of template in c++

// If two characters are passed to function template, character with larger ASCII value is displayed.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

// template function
template <typename T>
T Large(T n1, T n2)
{
	return (n1 > n2) ? n1 : n2;
}

int main()
{
	int i1, i2;
	float f1, f2;
	char c1, c2;

	cout << "Enter two integers:\n";
	cin >> i1 >> i2;
	cout << Large(i1, i2) <<" is larger." << endl;

	cout << "\nEnter two floating-point numbers:\n";
	cin >> f1 >> f2;
	cout << Large(f1, f2) <<" is larger." << endl;

	cout << "\nEnter two characters:\n";
	cin >> c1 >> c2;
	cout << Large(c1, c2) << " has larger ASCII value.";

	return 0;
}