When a compiler can infer a template parameter?

Question

Sometimes it works sometimes not:

template <class T> 
void f(T t) {}

template <class T>
class MyClass {
public:
  MyClass(T t) {}
};

void test () {
  f<int>(5);
  MyClass<int> mc(5);
  f(5);
  MyClass mc(5); // this doesn't work
}

Is there a way to hack around the example above? I.e. force the compiler to infer the template parameter from constructor parameter.

Will this be fixed in the future, or is there a good reason not to?

What is the general rule when compiler can infer template parameter?

Answer 1

Template parameters can be inferred for function templates when the parameter type can be deduced from the template parameters

So it can be inferred here:

template <typename T>
void f(T t);

template <typename T>
void f(std::vector<T> v);

but not here:

template <typename T>
T f() {
  return T();
}

And not in class templates.

So the usual solution to your problem is to create a wrapper function, similar to the standard library function std::make_pair:

template <class T>
class MyClass {
public:
  MyClass(T t) {}
};

template <typename T>
MyClass<T> MakeMyClass(T t) { return MyClass(t); }

and then call MakeMyClass to instantiate the class.

Answer 2

Read up on Template Argument Deduction (and ADL or Koenig lookup).