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I'm not a C++11 developer, I've done a little C++ in the past. What is the pride in putting all the code in the header file? Shouldn't the declarations be there

by ricket 12y ago

I'm not a C++11 developer, I've done a little C++ in the past. What is the pride in putting all the code in the header file? Shouldn't the declarations be there, and the definitions be pulled out into a .cpp file? Is it somehow smaller, faster, more convenient to have it all in a header file?

jgh 12y ago
Header libraries are easier to add to your project because there are no build scripts to figure out or cross-compiling to do or whatever. A lot of Boost is header-only, for example. GLM (OpenGL Mathematics), too, is header-only. OTOH if you end up modifying a header that's included in a whole bunch of places, woe unto you.
- TheDong 12y ago
  The reason Boost is headers only is you have to be a header to be generic. Implementations outside of headers have to friend / otherwise be not truly generic.
  - jgh 12y ago
    Yes, good point. You're right about that.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - theyoungestgun 12y ago
    Assuming you mean friend in the standard cpp way, that's not exactly correct. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/495021/why-can-templates-only-be-implemented-in-the-header-file http://stackoverflow.com/questions/495021/why-can-templates-...
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
pjc50 12y ago
It's unavoidable if you use templates in the interface. It tends to make builds disastrously slow though.