Header Files, Source Files, & Extension Names–C++ Notes (C Plus Plus Notes)

May 26, 2021 /

What’s the difference between Header files & Source files?

Basically, header files are #included and not compiled, whereas source files are compiled and not #included.

So do not compile ‘.h‘ files, and do not #include ‘.cpp‘ Source files.

Also, do not #include the same .h file twice. This will lead to an error.

Extensions

All files are fundamentally the same in that they’re all text file, however different kinds of files should have different extensions:
- Header files should use a .h extension (.h/.hpp/.hxx). Which particular one of these you use doesn’t matter.
- C source files should use .c (.c only). (But that’s for ‘C’ language.)