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Because there is no separation between API and implementation? Header files are great, you don't have to wade through implementation details or documentation to
by roel_v 8y ago
Because there is no separation between API and implementation? Header files are great, you don't have to wade through implementation details or documentation to figure out what is API and what isn't, even more so with good use of pimpl. You hardly need separate documentation tools, because the header (when structured well) is just the signatures and documentation. Templates muddy this a bit, but you put those in .inl files and it all works conceptually very pure again.
Headers (or at least 'separate specification of API') are/is great, and I miss it dearly in other languages.
- pjmlp 8y agoThat is what module navigation tools are for. Already in Turbo Pascal for MS-DOS there was a TPU dump tool, which would generate a "header file" from a TP module.
- roel_v 8y agoSure, there are a bunch of tools for pretty much every language, but I don't want to deal with that, nor switch between browser and editor for it. I know people complain all the time about headers, I was just saying I love the separation, even if it's an historical accident.