Storing a type in C++

Question

Is it possible to store a type name as a C++ variable? For example, like this:

type my_type = int; // or string, or Foo, or any other type
void* data = ...;
         


        

Answer 1

Not as written, but you could do something similar...

class Type
{
    public:
        virtual ~Type(){}
        virtual void* allocate()const=0;
        virtual void* cast(void* obj)const=0;
};

template class TypeImpl : public Type
{
      public:
         virtual void* allocate()const{ return new T; }
         virtual void* cast(void* obj)const{ return static_cast(obj); }
};

// ...
Type* type = new TypeImpl;
void* myint = type->allocate();
// ...

This kind of thing can be extended depending on what features you need.