Question

Many languages, such as Java, C#, do not separate declaration from implementation. C# has a concept of partial class, but implementation and declaration still remain in the same file.

Why doesn’t C++ have the same model? Is it more practical to have header files?

I am referring to current and upcoming versions of C++ standard.

Answer 1

I routinely flip between C# and C++, and the lack of header files in C# is one of my biggest pet peeves. I can look at a header file and learn all I need to know about a class – what it’s member functions are called, their calling syntax, etc – without having to wade through pages of the code that implements the class.

And yes, I know about partial classes and #regions, but it’s not the same. Partial classes actually make the problem worse, because a class definition is spread across several files. As far as #regions go, they never seem to be expanded in the manner I’d like for what I’m doing at the moment, so I have to spend time expanding those little plus’s until I get the view right.

Perhaps if Visual Studio’s intellisense worked better for C++, I wouldn’t have a compelling reason to have to refer to .h files so often, but even in VS2008, C++’s intellisense can’t touch C#’s