Thread: char counts as a separate type from signed char and unsigned char??

I've just stumbled across something weird. Now first off, I'm aware that when you say just "char" it is implementation specific whether you'll get a signed or an unsigned char. But what I find surprising is that regardless of whether default char is signed or unsigned, the compiler seems to treat signed char, unsigned char and char as 3 distinct types.

Code:

#include <iostream>

template < typename VarType >
struct Test
{
    inline static void test()
    {
        std::cout << "unspecified type\n";
    }
};

template <>
struct Test< signed char >
{
    inline static void test()
    {
        std::cout << "signed char\n";
    }
};

template <>
struct Test< unsigned char >
{
    inline static void test()
    {
        std::cout << "unsigned char\n";
    }
};

/*
template <>
struct Test< char >
{
    inline static void test()
    {
        std::cout << "char\n";
    }
};
*/

int main()
{
    Test< char >::test();
}

This example prints "unspecified type". Only if you uncomment the specialization for char and compile / run again do you get the expected (to me at least) result: "char".

Does anyone else find that surprising?