TITLE: reducing namespace pollution

(Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++.moderated, 27 Apr 97)


KLEEMAN: Robert Kleemann

> Is it possible to declare a class at file scope?  ie, a class that has
> no external linkage?

> Often I have classes declared only in the CPP file and it seems a shame
> to litter the global name space.


OLIVA: Alexandre Oliva <oliva@dcc.unicamp.br>

Use an unnamed namespace:

namespace {
  class foo { /* ... */ };
}

// foo is visible here, but not in any other translation unit.

In fact, the usage of `static' in namespace scope is deprecated in
favor of this alternative.