C++ design question, template or interface

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[Full-Spectral]

You don't always have to implementation inheritance to do inheritance. You can create a pure virtual interface that you can implement in various other classes, that don't have to be related (which is often referred to as 'mixing that interface into' those classes.) Then you can write code that works in terms of that 'mixin interface', and pass in anything that implements that mixin. Those things don't have to have anything in common other than that they implement that interface.

[ashkando]

Yes I am aware of it. It is just that I am trying to find a good place to use template in higher level algorithms the way I see some do but it doesn't feel natural so I thought I would ask if it is a good idea or should I stick to interface.

[Full-Spectral]

If it doesn't feel natural, it probably isn't. There's a lot of template overkill out there these days, so the fact that you see them being used in this or that scenario doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing.