Identifying primitive types in templates

UPDATE: Since C++11, use the is_fundamental template from the standard library:

#include <type_traits>

template<class T>
void test() {
    if (std::is_fundamental<T>::value) {
        // ...
    } else {
        // ...
    }
}

---

// Generic: Not primitive
template<class T>
bool isPrimitiveType() {
    return false;
}

// Now, you have to create specializations for **all** primitive types

template<>
bool isPrimitiveType<int>() {
    return true;
}

// TODO: bool, double, char, ....

// Usage:
template<class T>
void test() {
    if (isPrimitiveType<T>()) {
        std::cout << "Primitive" << std::endl;
    } else {
        std::cout << "Not primitive" << std::endl;
    }
 }

In order to save the function call overhead, use structs:

template<class T>
struct IsPrimitiveType {
    enum { VALUE = 0 };
};

template<>
struct IsPrimitiveType<int> {
    enum { VALUE = 1 };
};

// ...

template<class T>
void test() {
    if (IsPrimitiveType<T>::VALUE) {
        // ...
    } else {
        // ...
    }
}

As others have pointed out, you can save your time implementing that by yourself and use is_fundamental from the Boost Type Traits Library, which seems to do exactly the same.