inspect C++ template instantiation

Question

Is there some utility which would allow me to inspect template instantiation? my compiler is g++ or Intel.

Specific points I would like:

• Step by step i

Answer 1

With templates we simply don't have clean output facilities and there are no compilers i know of that allow you to directly view template instantiations. The closest i found regarding metaprogram debugging was a paper on Templight.

For now the best utilities seem to be:

• static asserts & concept checks (clearly assert your assumptions)
• the mentioned instantiation backtraces (e.g. by using static asserts)
• letting instantiations generate warnings (boost::mpl::print might do it)
• a tracer, a custom class that gets passed as a template argument and is used to emit runtime output (introduced by C++ Templates - The Complete Guide)