Home/ Questions/Q 7888769
In Process

The Archive Base Latest Questions

Editorial Team
  • 0
Asked: 2026-06-03T05:55:13+00:00

I would like to know why we use .hh as extension for C++ header

  • 0

I would like to know why we use “.hh” as extension for C++ header files instead of using just “.h”.

The header files are preprocessed and the preprocessor doesn’t even care about the extension of the header file. So, even if I create a header file with an extension “.qwe” (test.qwe). Then, why to use “.hh” as extension for C++ header files.

Some say, we are using “.cc” as extension for C++ files to differentiate from C files (which has an extension “.c”), likewise we are using using “.hh” as extension for C++ header files to differentiate from C header files (which has an extension “.h”). I don’t think this to be a valid reason.

Does anyone know the reason for naming in such a way?

Share

Leave an answer

You must login to add an answer.

Need An Account,

1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Some say, we are using “.cc” as extension for C++ files to differentiate from C files (which has an extension “.c”), likewise we are using using “.hh” as extension for C++ header files to differentiate from C header files (which has an extension “.h”).

    That is exactly the reason. It is just to differentiate CPP headers from C headers.

    Some programmers and libraries, such as Boost, use .hpp for CPP headers. My personal choice is this:

    • example.c
    • example.cpp
    • example.h
    • example.h++

    Even if they all belong to a huge project, you can still figure out which one is which. No description is needed.

    • 0