<p>C++ 0x has template aliases (sometimes referred to as template typedefs). See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B0x#Alias_templates" rel="noreferrer">here</a>. Current spec of C++ does not. </p>

<p>What do you like to use as work around ? Container objects or Macros ?
Do you feel its worth it ?</p>

What do you like to use as work around ? Container objects or Macros ? Do you feel its worth it ?
The canonical way is to use a metafunction like thus:
```
```
template <typename T>
struct my_string_map {
    typedef std::map<std::string, T> type;
};

// Invoke:

my_string_map<int>::type my_str_int_map;
```
```
This is also used in the STL (
```
allocator::rebind<U>
```
) and in many libraries including Boost. We use it extensively in a
bioinformatical library
.
It's bloated, but it's the best alternative 99% of the time. Using macros here is not worth the many downsides.
(EDIT: I've amended the code to reflect Boost/STL conventions as pointed out by Daniel in his comment.)