Template specialization and instantiation

Question

These concepts is a bit unclear to me. Well, template instantiation\'s defined pretty well by N4296::14.7 [temp.spec]:

The act of instant

Answer 1

"Instantiating a template specialization" typically refers to the process of implicit instantiation: substituting specific template arguments into a template definition to obtain an instantiated class, function, etc. Instantiating a template means instantiating a specialization of that template. Usually, the less precise phrasing is used when we're talking about some arbitrary instantiation in the context of language lawyering. You will also find the expression "instantiation of a template", which is synonymous with the instantiated specialization.