RE: [boost] Re: Files of types *.ipp are unfriendly, especially to MSVC ?

From: Jeff Garland (jeff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-08-09 08:50:15

On Sat, 9 Aug 2003 08:01:13 +0100, Paul A. Bristow wrote
> Please can you say why we need yet another file type? what is wrong 
> with .cpp or .hpp?

In date_time the intent is to conditionally inline code for tuning
performance. I believe the first time I saw this used was in the ACE library
where .ipp files are use extensively for conditional inlining.  It is
straightforward, clearly identifies the intent (if you know why it is there),
and a bit less ugly than something like _impl.hpp.  Bulka and Mayhew
(Efficient C++, 2000) describe this technique in chapter 10. They use .inl as
a file extension, which has the same issues as the .ipp file.  So, I think
there is good precedent for this and now that workarounds for MSVC have been
provided I'd really rather not change.

Jeff