Compiling a simple header with inline methods

Question

I have a base class Student, and an inheriting class StudentAtA.

I define StudentAtA inside StudentAtA.h, and it overides some of the methods of Student.

For example, if Student has:

string returnUni() 
{
 return NULL;
};

Then I define inside StudentAtA.h an overriding method:

string returnUni() 
{
 return "A";
};

Since all the methods in StudentAtA are short, they're all implemented in the header file (I didn't create a StudentAtA.cpp file).

Now I have a Driver.cpp file which uses StudentAtA, and contains a main function. This is the executor.

Is it possible to compile Driver without having StudentAtA.cpp (just using the header)?

as long as your compiler can find the definition for your methods it's happy. However it's not recommended to put the method bodys inside the header file. — Glandy, Dec 29 '13 at 09:05
Even if the methods are 1-2 lines long? (I'm new to c\c++ and aren't familiar with the standards) — Paz, Dec 29 '13 at 09:14
yes even then: http://stackoverflow.com/a/4955288/3060253 this guy summed up the reasons — Glandy, Dec 29 '13 at 09:24
@Glandy The discussion behind that link is, fortunately, a bit more balanced than your summary. There’s nothing absolutely wrong with method bodies in header files, it’s a balance between tighter coupling and giving the compiler more options for optimization. Obviously, the method listed above should be `virtual`, and in that case, there’s probably no reason to have it in a header, since it will hardly ever be eligible for inlining. — Christopher Creutzig, Dec 29 '13 at 10:02

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 29 '13 at 09:05

3

yes possible. Just make sure you include StudentAtA.h in your Driver.cpp

answered Dec 29 '13 at 09:05

Digital_Reality

1 Answers1