cplusplus / cplusplus/draft

[temp.inst] Specializations can be implicitly instantiated infinitely

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Description

This is really on the edge of being editorial, but I think it still qualifies.

According to the wording in [temp.inst], a specialization of a template is instantiated when it is not explicitly specialized and not explicitly instantiated. However, there is no mention of what will happen if the specialization has already been implicitly instantiated, which according to the wording would be implicitly instantiated again. I do not believe that this is the intended effect, since it allows multiple definitions of a specialization to be generated in a single translation unit.

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Research direction

Start by reading the [[temp.inst]] wording linked in the issue and examine how it describes implicit instantiation of an already-instantiated specialization. Done means clarifying the standard wording so a specialization cannot be implicitly instantiated repeatedly within one translation unit.

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Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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