a></span></dt>
</dl>
</div>
<div class="section">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">
<a name="id-1.3.5.3"></a>Introduction</h2></div></div></div>
<p>There are times when a generic (in the sense of
    <span class="emphasis"><em>general</em></span> as opposed to
    <span class="emphasis"><em>template-based programming</em></span>) type is needed:
    variables that are truly variable, accommodating values of many
    other more specific types rather than C++'s normal str