Curiously Recurring Template Pattern

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

C++ language

General topics
Preprocessor Comments	Keywords Escape sequences
Flow control
Conditional execution statements
if	switch
Iteration statements (loops)
for range-for (C++11)	while do-while
Jump statements
continue - break	goto - return
Functions
Function declaration
Lambda function expression
inline specifier
Dynamic exception specifications (until C++17*)
noexcept specifier (C++11)
Exceptions
throw-expression	try-catch block
Namespaces
Namespace declaration	Namespace aliases
Types
Fundamental types Enumeration types Function types	Class/struct types Union types
Specifiers
decltype (C++11) auto (C++11) alignas (C++11)	const/volatile constexpr (C++11)
Storage duration specifiers
Initialization
Default initialization Value initialization Zero initialization Copy initialization Direct initialization	Aggregate initialization     List initialization (C++11) Constant initialization Reference initialization

Expressions
Value categories Order of evaluation	Operators Operator precedence
Alternative representations
Literals
Boolean - Integer - Floating-point
Character - String - nullptr (C++11)
User-defined (C++11)
Utilities
Attributes (C++11)
Types
typedef declaration
Type alias declaration (C++11)
Casts
Implicit conversions - Explicit conversions
static_cast - dynamic_cast
const_cast - reinterpret_cast
Memory allocation
new expression	delete expression
Classes
Class declaration Constructors this pointer	Access specifiers friend specifier
Class-specific function properties
Virtual function override specifier (C++11)       final specifier (C++11)	explicit (C++11) static
Special member functions
Default constructor Copy constructor Move constructor (C++11)	Copy assignment Move assignment (C++11) Destructor
Templates
Class template Function template	Template specialization Parameter packs (C++11)
Miscellaneous
Inline assembly	History of C++

 

The Curiously Recurring Template Pattern is an idiom in which a class X derives from a class template Y, taking a template parameter Z, where Y is instantiated with Z = X. For example,

template<class Z>
class Y {};
 
class X : public Y<X> {};

Example

CRTP may be used to implement "compile-time polymorphism", when a base class exposes an interface, and derived classes implement such interface.

Run this code

#include <cstdio>
 
#ifndef __cpp_explicit_this_parameter // Traditional syntax
 
template <class Derived>
struct Base { void name() { (static_cast<Derived*>(this))->impl(); } };
struct D1 : public Base<D1> { void impl() { std::puts("D1::impl()"); } };
struct D2 : public Base<D2> { void impl() { std::puts("D2::impl()"); } };
 
void test()
{
    // Base<D1> b1; b1.name(); //undefined behavior
    // Base<D2> b2; b2.name(); //undefined behavior
    D1 d1; d1.name();
    D2 d2; d2.name();
}
 
#else // C++23 alternative syntax; https://godbolt.org/z/s1o6qTMnP
 
struct Base { void name(this auto&& self) { self.impl(); } };
struct D1 : public Base { void impl() { std::puts("D1::impl()"); } };
struct D2 : public Base { void impl() { std::puts("D2::impl()"); } };
 
void test()
{
    D1 d1; d1.name();
    D2 d2; d2.name();
}
 
#endif
 
int main()
{
    test();
}

Output:

D1::impl()
D2::impl()

See also

enable_shared_from_this (C++11)	allows an object to create a shared_ptr referring to itself (class template)
ranges::view_interface (C++20)	helper class template for defining a view, using the curiously recurring template pattern (class template)