in C/C++ you have void* and C#'s object, to create a variable to hold a genetic type. So in C# you can do:

class A {
  object foo;
}

and

var a = new A();
a.foo = any class...;

does D have something like this or template parameters are used instead of?

On Saturday, 6 February 2021 at 02:01:28 UTC, Jack wrote:
> in C/C++ you have void* and C#'s object, to create a variable to hold a genetic type. So in C# you can do:
>
> class A {
>   object foo;
> }
>
> and
>
> var a = new A();
> a.foo = any class...;
>
> does D have something like this or template parameters are used instead of?

If it's just for classes, you can use `Object` [1], which is the universal base class.

For absolutely any type at all, you can try using `Variant` [2], though it has a few limitations.

[1] http://druntime.dpldocs.info/object.Object.html
[2] http://phobos.dpldocs.info/std.variant.Variant.html

On Sat, Feb 06, 2021 at 02:01:28AM +0000, Jack via Digitalmars-d-learn wrote:
> in C/C++ you have void* and C#'s object, to create a variable to hold a genetic type. So in C# you can do:
> 
> class A {
>   object foo;
> }
> 
> and
> 
> var a = new A();
> a.foo = any class...;
> 
> does D have something like this or template parameters are used instead of?

D has void*.

But if you have a class, it's probably better to use the universal base class Object, which is more type-safe.

Alternatively, check out std.variant, which provides true dynamic typing as a tagged union.


T

-- 
"You know, maybe we don't *need* enemies." "Yeah, best friends are about all I can take." -- Calvin & Hobbes

Thanks for your answers guys!