Duplicate c++ template instantiations

Question

Is it possible for the compiler to duplicate instantiations of a same template across several translation units?

For instance, if you have a.cpp which use a st

Answer 1

As sharptooth says, the final binary will only contain one instantiation. But the templates will still be instantiated everytime they are encountered in a compilation unit. If you want some compilation speed, in C++0x we get the extern templates. It works like normal extern variables, in that it has to be specified in at least one compilation unit, but the compiler wont instantiate the template in this unit. See here and this draft (14.7.2 [temp.explicit]) for more infos.