function template specialization compile error

Question

##A.hh

template<class T> void func(T t) {}
template<> void func<int>(int t) {}

void func2();

##A.cpp

void func2() {}

##main.cpp

func("hello");
func(int());

The error I get is: error LNK2005: "void __cdecl func(int)" (??$func@H@@YAXH@Z) already defined in A.obj, one or more multiply defined symbols found

Is a function template specialization not treated as a normal function template? It looks like it will be in the objective file for A.

Answer 1

As template<> void func<int>(int t) {} is a function overload rather than a function template (i.e., all types are known at the point of definition so it is no longer a template), it must be marked as inline or defined in a .cpp file to avoid multiple definition errors, just as with any other function definition.