alt Hacker NewsThat's just false. Templates are not slow to compile at all, and you can selectively pick TUs where they're instantiated.
My entire VRSFML codebase compiles from scratch in ~4s and I liberally use C++ features, I just avoid the Standard Library most of the time.
Templates are not inherently slow, people just don't know how to use them and don't know how to control instantiation.
Most people still think that templates have to go in header files, which is also just plainly false.
Erm... that's not just false. The point of templates is generic programming, reusable components. If you don't put them in a header, you're not reusing them much. And if you have to "selectively pick TUs where they're instantiated", you're basically admitting that you have to invest effort to reduce compile times. You are refuting the very point you're making.
C++ templates _are_ slow to compile. They require running something like a dynamically typed VM in the compiler.