How to realize it?

[weixj2003ld]

I have created class A in a.h and a.cpp,and class B in b.h and b.cpp;

One method of A needs B,like this,

class A
{
...
void method_A1(B b);
...
}
So the file b.h needs to be included in a.h.

now one method of B needs A,like this,


class B
{
...
void method_B1(A b);
...
}So the file a.h needs to be included in b.h.

the program runs normally,but I think the two header files are included each other,it is odd.

Could you tell me how to deal with it normally?

[ChrisW67]

As you have explained the situation, where the parameters are passed by value (i.e. copied), you have done the normal thing. In order to write code that uses A the compiler needs to know the precise size of B, i.e. the declaration. The headers a.h and b.h should have include guards to avoid an endless loop.

If method_x1() takes a reference or pointer to an A or B, rather than the copy you showed, then you can use forward declarations to break the header file dependency:


// a.h
#ifndef A_H
#define A_H

class B; // forward declaration only
class A
{
public:
void method_A1(const B &b);
void method_A2(B *b);

};
#endif


// a.cpp
#include "a.h"
#include "b.h"

void A::method_A1(const B &b) {}
void A::method_A2(B *b) {}


// b.h
#ifndef B_H
#define B_H

class A; // forward declaration only
class B
{
public:
void method_B1(A &a);
void method_B2(const A *a);
};
#endif

// b.cpp
#include "b.h"
#include "a.h"

void B::method_B1(A &a) {}
void B::method_B2(const A *a) {}

The compiler then requires only a pointer to B, of known size, to build code using A. It no longer requires the full declaration of B. The full declaration of B will be required in the implementation of A.

In large libraries with lots of inter-relationships these measures can reduce compilation time quite a bit by reducing the amount of pre-processor material to be handled.