c++ namespace best practice dilemma

Question

I\'m finding that what I\'ve considered \"best practice\" for use namespace in c++ is hurting the readability of my code, and making me question how to use them well.

My

Answer 1

I have been in this situation before. It is often the case that a lot of template functions/classes in your headers are really "implementation", although by the nature of templates in C++ you are forced to put them in a header file. Thus, I just put everything in some "detail" or "implementation" namespace, where I can comfortably use "using namespace". At the end, I "drop" what people should use to the corresponding place. Like this:

namespace myproject { namespace somemodule {

namespace _implementation {

using namespace myproject::othermodule;
using namespace myproject::yetanothermodule;

template <...>
class some_internal_metafunction{
...
};

template <...>
class stuff_people_should_use_outside {
...
};

} // namespace implementation       

using stuff_people_should_use_outside ;
}} // namespace myproject::somemodule

This approach might enlarge a bit the names on your compiler reports, though.

Alternatively, you can give up the modules namespaces. But it might not be a good idea for an extremely large project.