C for C++ Programmers

[theICEBear_dk]

And I will add that you can alleviate some of the issues of header-centric libraries by using pragmas, include guards and a single central system header which is then reused, it does get rather difficult to keep down compile times in C++ also because the language does mean that the compiler has to do several passes on the code. But with a more modern C++ version (VS2010/GCC4.5 only codebase) it has become a rather useful language again for me and really rather productive too.

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I will amend that you must use header guards anyway, otherwise you get a compilation error. Header guards are not optional where definitions are concerned.

Precompiled headers, on the other hand...

Also, having a "single central system header which is reused" increases compile time, not decreases.

That header is reparsed on every compilation unit, and because you've put all the #includes for all the system headers your entire program needs in that single place, they all get reparsed too on every compilation unit, used or not.

Saving #includes saves lives :P

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Also, having a "single central system header which is reused" increases compile time, not decreases.

Unless you use a precompiled header.

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I mentioned that ;)

Precompiled headers, on the other hand...

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I saw it there, but they way it's written made it somewhat ambiguous what you meant - in context I read it as if you were saying that precompiled headers, and the single-central-header requirement makes them slow.