Traits vs template

Question

I m new in scala and i wonder what's the differences between traits and template ? When should i use template and when should i use traits ? thanks

Scala doesn't have "templates". What do you mean by it? – Daniel C. Sobral Apr 27 '10 at 11:58 — Daniel C. Sobral, Apr 27 '10 at 11:58

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:19

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It depends what you mean by template.
If it is (wikipedia) the feature that allow functions and classes to operate with generic types, then template and trait are two orthogonal notions.

Traits can use generic type too (see this SO question for instance), but there are here to offer an alternative to multiple inheritance, by offering mixin class composition with stackable behavior.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:19

Community

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answered Apr 27 '10 at 08:50

VonC

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by template i mean generics in c++ style or like in java – lapinferoce Apr 27 '10 at 13:44
@lapinferoce: I thought so, and my answer stands. template ("generic") and traits (mixin class composition) are two different topics. – VonC Apr 27 '10 at 13:51

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 27 '10 at 14:08

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"By template I mean generics as in C++ or Java" — lapinferoce

In that case, the contrast does not exist. Traits and classes (abstract or concrete) may both be generic. Only objects support neither parametric nor subtype polymorphism.

answered Apr 27 '10 at 14:08

Randall Schulz

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Traits vs template

2 Answers2