why .hpp?

[A. Saksena]

For c++ header files which is better .h or .hpp extension?. if .hpp why?

Abhishek

 

[Victor Bazarov]

For c++ header files which is better .h or .hpp extension?. if .hpp why?

..hpp is better if the header is not for use with any C module. If it is
possible to use it with a C module, many keep the same header and name it
..h and make sure that it compiles if included in a C translation unit.

However, if your header is for internal consumption only and your project
is pure C++, there is no difference, and I prefer .h because the editors
are usually not very good at supporting different extensions without some
additional configuring.

V

 

[Julie]

For c++ header files which is better .h or .hpp extension?. if .hpp why?

Conceptually:

..h is for C-compatible headers

..hpp is for C++-compatible headers

In actuality:

..h is for C & C++ headers

..hpp is for some holdouts, old Borland users, and isn't supported by some
compilers all that well

{} is for C++ standard library headers

Also, there is really no consensus for the .h/.hpp as it relates to language,
and as a matter of fact, the lack of consensus is the reason that we have to
live with the complete abortion of a standard dealing with extensionless
standard headers, probably one of the _dumbest_ things the committee did
(wasn't unanimous though). Just goes to show that committees can be just as
dumb as anyone else, but I digress (with prejudice!).

 

[Thomas Matthews]

For c++ header files which is better .h or .hpp extension?. if .hpp why?

Abhishek

I use ".hpp" for C++ headers and ".h" for C language headers.
The ".hpp" reminds me that the file contains statements for
the C++ language which are not valid for the C language, such
as "class" declarations.

I've had projects which use both languages. One does not want
to include a C++ header into a C language source file.

As to which is better, that is an opinion best determined
by you.

--
Thomas Matthews

C++ newsgroup welcome message:
http://www.slack.net/~shiva/welcome.txt
C++ Faq: http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite
C Faq: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/c-faq/top.html
alt.comp.lang.learn.c-c++ faq:
http://www.comeaucomputing.com/learn/faq/
Other sites:
http://www.josuttis.com -- C++ STL Library book
http://www.sgi.com/tech/stl -- Standard Template Library

 

[Ron Natalie]

I use ".hpp" for C++ headers and ".h" for C language headers.
The ".hpp" reminds me that the file contains statements for
the C++ language which are not valid for the C language, such
as "class" declarations.

I don't need the extension to remind me what language I'm programming
in. The different extension for the .c and .cpp files is for the
benefit of the compiler so it can tell easily what language the TU
is in.

 

[Nathaniel L. Walker]

Generally, to something like this, I would say GFY and leave it be, but I
thought I should throw in there that emacs has different font lock modes for
different types of files -- c and c++ syntaxes are colored differently. In
this case, it is useful not to have to tell emacs what file is what. Emacs
assumes .h is a c-language file, whereas .hpp is a c++-language file, so,
for the same reason that you stated for .c and .cpp files, it is also useful
to have .h and .hpp files.

For me. You can do what you want. I can always do a massive renaming binge
on your files if I ever have to look at them.

- JFA1

I am sure it can be changed in emacs, and quite easily. Vim also.

I generally use .h for C and C++ headers that I write. All implementation
(IDE)-
created header files I just leave as they are (.h for MS, .hpp for Borland).

Nathaniel L. Walker