Can alias templates have default template parameters?

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The following code is very short, but causes different compilers to behave disagree:

#include <tuple>

template <typename T = int, typename... Ts>
using tpl = std::tuple<T, Ts...>;

tpl x; // I would assume this should be std::tuple<int>

Clang and MSVC say that template argument deduction doesn't work for alias templates, ICC says that template arguments are missing, while GCC has an internal compiler error. I would normaly consider that an indication that alias templates do not undergo deduction - especially that according to cppreference they don't (which I am aware is not an official resource and just a reference) - but I would like to be sure.

Is this code really ill-formed or are alias template default template arguments simply not yet implemented in these compilers? I thought that they were added in C++17 or C++20.

language-lawyer templates alias c++
1 Answers

C++20 introduces CTAD for alias templates

An alias template may indeed have default template arguments, and it is legal to have default template arguments to template parameters that are followed by a template parameter pack, as per [temp.param]/14:

If a template-parameter of a class template, variable template, or alias template has a default template-argument, each subsequent template-parameter shall either have a default template-argument supplied or be a template parameter pack. [...]

The default template argument is a red herring, however, and the key here is whether class template argument deduction is valid or not for alias templates, and we may minimize your example to the following one:

#include <tuple>

template <typename T>
using tpl = std::tuple<T>;

tpl x{1};  // should deduce tpl<int> in C++20
  // Clang: error
  // GCC 9.3: error
  // GCC 10.1: ICE / internal compiler error

As per P1814R0(1), which was accepted for C++20, the minimal example above is indeed legal, but Clang is yet to implement P1814R0, explaining why Clang rejects it. GCC, on the other hand, lists P1814R0 as implemented for GCC 10, meaning it should accept it for C++20.

(1) As per C++20 and P1814R0 (Wording for Class Template Argument Deduction for Alias Templates), (/wording for original proposal P1021R4) CTAD is applicable also for alias templates, whilst however not allowing explicit deduction guides for them.

In C++17 you need to include the template argument list (even if it's empty) when using alias templates - there is no equivalent to class template argument deduction for alias templates in C++17:

#include <tuple>

template <typename T = int, typename... Ts>
using tpl = std::tuple<T, Ts...>;

tpl<> x; // OK in GCC and Clang

An ICE (internal compiler error) is always a bug, no matter if the code is ill-formed or well-formed, and as noted above GCC emits an ICE only for 10.1 and later, whereas it yields an error for previous releases.

Thus, GCC apparently have a ICE regression for 10.1 (which was suspiciously listed as the target when CTAD for alias templates were implemented). It is at the very least related to the following bug report:

Which however is listed as resolved, whereas your example still yields an ICE for a GCC trunk that includes the fix to 96199.

We may finally note that GCC successfully applies CTAD for the alias template where we only use a template parameter pack:

#include <tuple>

template <typename... Ts>
using tpl = std::tuple<Ts...>;

tpl x{1}; // OK

but that if we replace std::tuple by std::vector in the minimal example:

#include <vector>

template <typename T>
using vec = std::vector<T>;

vec x{{1}}; // GCC 10.1: ICE

we get another kind of ICE for GCC 10.1 (and forward), whereas adding a default template argument and replacing the braced-direct-initialization with default-initialization is accepted.

#include <vector>

template <typename T = int>
using vec = std::vector<T>;

vec x;  // GCC 10.1: OK
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