//* Max overloaded functions versus function template *

char    maximum(char a, char b)     { if (a>=b) return(a); else return(b); }
int     maximum(int  a, int  b)     { if (a>=b) return(a); else return(b); }
double  maximum(double a, double b) { if (a>=b) return(a); else return(b); }

// Or one function which does all of the above and more...
template <typename T>
T maximum(T a, T b) { if (a>=b) return(a); else return(b); }

// the template function will do the task for any data type
// including your future defined on your own data types
// The compiler will only have to know how to perform = on them