I am writing simple classes that implement vectors and matrices as part of trying to learn OpenGL. I have matrix and vector classes that look like this :
// Forward declarations
template <typename T, size_t N/*len*/> struct vec;
template<typename T, size_t N /*rows*/, size_t M /*cols*/> struct mat;
// Forward declare *operator for matrix
// (NxM) matrix multiplied by (MxP) matrix yields (NxP) matrix
mat<T, N, P> operator* (const mat<T, N, M>& A, const mat<T, M, P>& B);
template <typename T, size_t N>
struct vec {
public:
vec() {}
virtual ~vec() {}
private:
T[N] m_data;
};
template <typename T, size_t N, size_t M>
struct mat {
public:
mat() {}
virtual ~mat() {}
// This is where it gets interesting. By my reading of the rules
// of C++11, this counts as a partial specialization of the
// operator template, and should not work.
// However, it compiles just fine!
template <size_t n, size_t m, size_t p>
friend mat<T, n, p> operator* (const mat<T, n, m>& A,
const mat<T, m, p> &B);
// Implementation appears later in the same header file.
private:
T[N*M] m_data;
};
I declare the * operator as a friend because I want it to have access to the internal m_data member, but I don't want the users of 'mat' and 'vec' to know the internals.
This compiles and runs just fine. I have a unit test for that matrix multiplication, and it works just fine. However, I don't know why it even compiles, let alone runs. By my reading of the rules of C++ templates, the declaration of the * operator counts as a partial specialization of function template, and is illegal.
What am I missing here?
