I wrote:
What I *would have* considered, though, is to have two templates:
template<...> struct pod_endian { ... no constructor but all the endian logic ... }
and
template<...> struct endian : pod_endian { ... constructors and not much else ... }
And have conversion operator to get an endian from a pod_endian.
... or have one template with an extra flag, for "create constructor" (much like a policy...) and use a template specialization // Here, 'pod_endian' contains the actual logic, but can be // hidden (put in anonymous namespace...) template<endianness E, typename RawT, std::size_t n_bytes, alignment A, bool createConstructor = true> struct endian : pod_endian<E, RawT, n_bytes, A> { endian(RawT num) : m_value(num) {} }; template<..., typename RawT> struct endian<..., RawT, false> : pod_endian<E, RawT, n_bytes, A> { // no constructor, and actually nothing else either :-) } This way, we can use either one: union MakingMrDribinHappy { endian<..., false> mySpecificInt; int somethingElse; }; template<typename T> void makingMrDawesHappy(T t) { .... } makingMrDawesHappy(endian<..., true>(42)); One would of course have to either create named instantiations for both these kinds or parameterize them, as template<bool useConstructor> struct big4_t : endian<big, int_least32_t, 4, useConstructor> {}; The use is not as nice: big4_t<> myTemplateFriendlyInt; big4_t<false> myUnionFriendlyInt; Ugh :-( /David